Hat Kid of Hattania
by jumbochamploonrules
Summary: Born into the world without a name, our female pilot of the stellar spaceship was about to celebrate her 170th birthday once more. But things quickly take a sour turn when the girl's entire stock of Time Pieces are sucked into space onto multiple different planets! As they are needed for fuel and can warp time itself, Hat Kid must get them back at any cost. T, may up rating later
1. Turbulence in Space and Time

**This is a fanfic for A Hat in Time. All characters and the game itself all belong to Gears for Breakfast (by the way, amazing jobs you mad geniuses!)  
****If I include any OC characters, I will add them in at certain points with their names in bold... kinda like how this disclaimer is.  
****And so you know, the POV will be in Hat Kid's POV, who I am not giving a different name. It would ruin the experience, in my opinion XD  
****With all this out of the way, let us begin.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Little one..." I heard the voice say. It was my mother again. I smiled at how I heard her voice, wondering where she was right now. It seemed that the closer I got, the further I was. "Do not fret, my child... you are nearing home day by day... I am still waiting," her voice said, me smiling and cooing... but then I gasped as something interrupted our conversation.

"HELLO ONE AND ALL! It's time for the morning news of space and time!" the radio exclaimed, forcing me to wake up and fall on the ground, me groaning at that and sighing.

"Dammit... why does that thing always wake me up just as I'm talking to mommy... ugh..." I groaned as I simply turned off my radio, knowing it was my alarm that did so. It meant that I needed to get back to work at steering my ship. I simply washed my face with some antiseptic in my vanity, me smiling at my complexion. Even though I looked like I was a little girl, I was, believe it or not, 169 years old! And in only two more days of my own time calendar, I'd be 170 years old. But that was how it was for my species. What was my species?

It's kind of hard to explain, but I'm from the planet of Hattania. Everyone on that planet has an affinity for making hats. And every single hat that went to the top of our heads gave us a different ability for each type. If it was a mask, it'd allow us to see anything invisible and dispelled darkness. A hat relating to cold weather would turn us into heavy statues of ice for a temporary time, and my personal favorite, my big top hat, allowed me to see anything that may need tuning in the ship and anything of importance. But the thing is, our race was especially adept at using the power of time itself to traverse across the universe... that is why I always made sure all of my special time pieces were kept in my special safe. If they fell into the wrong hands, it'd be a horrible experience for anyone.

"Hmm..." I frowned as my hat alerted me something was going on in the main control room, me going to that area from my bedroom. And when I got to it, I was shocked. There was a person outside of the super-reinforced glass at the front of my ship... by the emergency door.

"Huh?" I frowned as I then changed my hat to my speaker one, which was made to look like one you'd find at a fast food joint. "Excuse me, who are you and why are you outside my ship?" I asked him, the man looking at me in confusion and then talking like a stereotypical mobster.

"Little girl in charge of spaceship as big as this? Well, no matter, Mafia requires payment for all passersby, even space ones," the goon said, me frowning at him.

"Why would I give money to any Mafia? Besides, I don't have your kind of currency, unless you take Pons as payment?" I smiled as I held out at least 200 Pons in a small case I had.

"Hmph, never heard of them things. Mafia has no need for small green balls. If you won't give the toll, I'm coming in to take it myself," the mafia guy said, me then gasping. He was going to try to open the door! I simply grabbed onto the door handle on my side and pulled it shut before he could open it too far.

"Don't be an idiot, guy! If you open this door, the place is gonna get trashed since we're in the vacuum of space! And this place has very important items that could spell doom for the universe if interrupted!" I exclaimed, the guy not even caring. He simply did something that made me gulp. He took his massive muscles and began to smash his way through the glass! I gasped at this as he then managed to break down the glass, forcing the air inside of my ship to escape like a vacuum, sucking him right back out and to the planet he came from! And I gasped as my vault was forced open from the suction of the hole, forcing me to push the 'Emergency Auto-Repair switch on my small control panel. But it was too late. Just as I pushed the button, I felt the force of the suction pull both me and all of my precious Time Pieces out of the ship! And I knew I had to get them back by any means! And when I looked in the sky, I saw them spread out to five other neighboring planets and some of them turning around and hitting my ship in a few areas, resulting in them turning into time rifts!

"Dammit, I need all 56 in order for the world to be safe! Not only that, but they power my ship! Without the source of the ship's power, there's no way I can get back home in time for my 200th birthday! And that's the day that was said would be the best possible option! UGH!" I groaned as I then looked down and saw that I was rapidly approaching the ground of a large seaside island area. And my body collided into the ground, forcing me to go through some floorboards before I finally was able to stop falling. "Oof... good thing I'm naturally immune to gravitational force like that... now where to go? I know some of those Time Pieces fell on this planet full of those jerk mafia losers, but where?" I asked as I then moved through the area I was currently in, that being an alleyway.

I then got to an area where I saw some mafia goons get put into a pile and I saw a girl that looked confusing. She wore a red hood and had a white dress underneath, but she looked like a total literal tomboy. Why? She had blonde hair, a couple scrapes on her face... oh yeah, and she also had a mustache... one that oddly looked like the mafia goons' mustaches. "U-Um... excuse me?" I asked, the girl gasping at me and running off, me immediately giving chase.

"H-Hey! Wait! I want information!" I exclaimed as I rushed after her, seeing more mafia losers on the way... but then I came across something that threw me off track. There was a strange person of purple skin tone and wearing a fancy suit... but his body looked like it was decayed in a fashion that looked like a computer glitch... "Um... who are you? And why the static?" I asked him, the man looking at me in an off-putting manner.

"Oh, hello, fellow traveler. One of the Hattian populace, are you?" the guy asked, me gasping at that.

"H-How'd you know that?!" I gawked at him.

"I can tell just by looking at your ponytail and your hat on your head. Your ponytail moves independently and your hat has magic in it," the guy said, me smirking at him.

"Well then... I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm chasing after that girl in the red hood," I frowned at him.

"Do come back, then. I'll be around the place. I sell specialty medals for the currency of Green Pons. In fact, these medals are useful for you Hattians specifically," the man said.

"Okay... name?" I asked.

"I have only one name. Badge Seller. As for the twitchiness of my body? It is because of my travelling to many worlds beginning to take its toll on me," he said. I nodded and saw that the mustached girl had beat up some more mafia goons on the way and I finally caught up, only for her to cheat and use a rising rope to get to belfry of a pretty tall tower!

"Oi! What's shakin' with you, lass?" she asked from her standpoint, me smiling at her and shouting back.

"I need help trying to find my fuel! You know, those things that look like giant hourglasses!" I exclaimed at her.

"Oh, you mean that junk that fell from the sky? I think I can help ya, mate! First ya gotta get up here, though!" the mustached girl said, me sighing and looking for some way to get to her... and my smile widened when I happened to see a button on the big crane that was holding up a large platform filled with crates! I simply pushed it and saw the crane had accidentally dropped a box. And guess what? It happened to contain a bit of yarn in it! I rushed after the yarn and put it under my hat for safe keeping before scaling the crane and the wooden platform before finally joining up with the blonde mustached girl.

"So, what's your name, miss?" she asked, me gulping and frowning at that.

"I... I don't have one," I said, her looking at me in confusion.

"Huh? How can't ya have a name?" she asked.

"Well, I come from a far planet called Hattania, but I was kidnapped as a 60 year old by a space pirate. I beat him and stole his ship, which I converted to run on those magical hourglasses and-" I was saying before the girl in the hood stopped me with a finger to the lips.

"60 years old?! Well how old are ya now, then?" she asked in disbelief.

"169, and it's gonna be 170 in a few days of my planet's rotation," I said, the girl gawking at that.

"Whoa... you don't look a day older than me! And I'm only 12!" the mustached girl said.

"Yeah... but why the uh..." I frowned, her sighing at that.

"In this planet, everyone has a mustache that is this shape. It includes girls too. But the Mafia took over this island and I'm trying to take them down for good," the girl said.

"Well, how about we just stick to the basics of name calling? I'll call you Mustache Girl, you call me Hat Kid. Okay?" I smiled. The girl frowned a bit, but then smiled at me.

"Fine, don't bother me none. Now about that magical hourglass, or junk as everyone here is calling them, one of them fell by the fountain in the plaza up ahead. Come on, I'll show ya," Mustache Girl smirked at me as I then followed after her and we came upon the plaza itself... and one of the Mafia grunts had the hourglass on him. "You may have to take out those thugs in order to get that hourglass back. And I recommend stealing that umbrella from that guy. He stole it from my house just five days ago."

"Understood. Thanks for the tip," I smiled at her as I then went off to the area in question and I approached the mafia goon holding my hourglass, him looking at me with a smile as I then pointed at the important item. "Give that back! It's mine!" I said to him.

"Eh? Here," he said, me smirking and about to grab it, but then he pulled his arm back and held me at bay with the umbrella. "Hahaha! You such a wimp! Gahaha!" the goon laughed, which then turned into a gasp as I yanked the umbrella out of his hand and, in the process, I accidentally snapped his wrist! "Grgk... GAGH!" he gawked at my strength.

"Never mess with an angry Hattian. Now..." I frowned as I held out the umbrella by the pointed tip. "Are you going to hand my hourglass over kindly, or would you like your other hand busted?" I asked, the goon gulping and giving me the hourglass before running for the hills, me smiling triumphantly at the victory I'd just achieved. "Alright! Time to get back to my ship with you in tow... ha!" I smirked as I focused my power into the hourglass and I warped myself back to my ship, where I then placed it into my vault and smiled at how the auto-repair systems were operational long enough to patch up the hole with extremely sturdy bark from a planet I'd been to previously. It was basically a piece of wood that was harder than diamonds and could only be cut by a Hattian's punch or from a special laser... yeah, I had an unnatural strength despite my size. It was natural considering my age and species.

"Okay, now that you're safe, the power should be on for the basic support systems. So now I can use the escape hatch in the kitchen in order to go to the Mafia planet again. I still need to get those other Time Pieces after all," I smiled as I then proceeded to the kitchen and activated the secret escape hatch under the stove. It was just the beginning of an epic adventure.


	2. Mafia Town Rifts and Plan

**Chapter 2**

When I got back onto the Mafia planet's main town, I immediately heard the sound of something I didn't expect. "HELP!" I heard Mustache Girl exclaim, me looking over to the direction of the sound and seeing that the Mafia goons had her in their meaty hands and they were atop a large pile of TNT barrels! I immediately rushed over there while collecting any Pons that I saw on the ground, managing to get a hundred more before getting over to the location, me looking at the mafia guys and growling.

"Let her go right now, punk!" I exclaimed as I then saw that the main one holding onto Mustache Girl also had a Time Piece on his other hand!

"Haha! What are you gonna do, little girl?" the mafia goon laughed, me smirking and doing something that I knew he wouldn't like. I only used it whenever I wanted to rescue people. What did I do? I slowed time with my special bandanna styled hat, which made my movements faster than all the jerks as I then rushed up the barrels and knocked each goon across the head with either my umbrella or my fists, managing to rush up to the head goon and bite him on the hand he held onto Mustache Girl with, the power running out just as I grabbed the Time Piece, all the Mafia goons either passing out from their blows or yelling in pain!

"Whoa!" Mustache Girl exclaimed as she fell onto her butt and I simply grabbed her hand and had us rush away from them, her smirking at me. "Mate, am I glad you came around when you did!" she smirked at me.

"You're welcome, friend," I smiled at her. "By the way, while I'm still here, you think you can tell me if you've seen any strange rifts around?" I asked her.

"Rifts? What kind are you talking about?" MG asked.

"They look either blue or purple-pink. They appear whenever these hourglasses collide into either an item or person and get broken... ah! Like that right there in that pipe!" I smiled when I saw one right in a pipe near the river, Hat Girl looking there and gawking.

"Oh, those things! Yeah, I've seen them before! I think I saw one in a small cave-in by the indoor Mafia market and then I saw a pink rift above the beach to the northeast!" Mustache Girl smirked.

"Thanks! Maybe I can get those ones before I get back to the ship," I smiled.

"Need help?"

I sighed and shook my head no. "Sorry, but though they look harmless, they are really dangerous in the wrong hands. I may be friends with you, but these things could spell doom for the entire universe if handled by anyone other than a Hattian like myself," I frowned at her.

"Well... didn't expect that junk like that could be that dangerous. How so?" Mustache Girl asked.

"I'd rather not say. But let's just say, the result of those rifts is from them shattering onto an object or a person. The blue ones are formed upon contact with an object and the pink ones are formed upon contact with a person and shattering. The result is an alternate universe being created for the blue ones and the person being trapped inside an eternal bad dream in the pink ones unless I grab the hourglass from the rifts," I said, Mustache Girl gawking at that.

"Damn... that's spooky," she gulped.

"Indeed. Now, I'd normally not do this, but here. I think I can trust you," I smiled as I handed her the Time Piece that I got from the Mafia goon taking her hostage. "I'll focus my powers into this hourglass and you'll warp directly to my ship above the planet. Put this hourglass inside of the big vault in there and lock it up tight immediately after. Okay?" I smiled at her.

"Deal. I'll be careful not to break it," she smiled at me as I then gave her the hourglass and I focused my powers into it, her then being warped to my ship. I then went off to the rift and entered the one in the pipe, me smirking as I then entered the alternate world.

"Okay, now to get to the end," I smiled as I then proceeded to jump from one part of the place to the other on the different platforms. It was really quite easy to do so. And by the time I got to the end, I smirked widely as I grabbed the Time Piece and then warped myself back to Mafia Town with it in hand. I then tried to find the Mafia's indoor market. And upon finding it, I did the same with the blue rift that was in the caved in cave... and then came the pink rift above the beach. By the time I got to this one, the sky began to get cloudy. It was going to rain soon. I got into the pink rift and saw that, of course, the one who got hit was a Mafia goon. I saw that it was full of mafia goons inside, but they didn't bother attacking. All of them looked scared, in fact.

"Okay, now time to find those Memory Pons to get closer to the rift ball. If my textbooks are correct, then the rift bubble should be at the end of this place," I said as I began to search for the Memory Pons of the poor guy that got hit by the Time Piece. I soon found two of them and got to the next place, where I saw more Memory Pons around the place, me doing some daring platforming to get to them before I found enough to move forward again. I then moved forward to a large ship with the captain being a mafia goon that looked a bit more buff and short than the other goons. Most likely their leader. I ignored him as he did to me and collected more Memory Pons until, eventually, I got to the end, where I saw the rift bubble at the end. "Okay, chap, time to save you," I frowned as I began to whack at the bubble with my umbrella until it eventually popped open to reveal the Mafia grunt within as well as the Time Piece and a bunch of Green Pons.

"Whew... t-thanks, kid... I don't know what happened..." the Mafia guy gulped.

"This Time Piece fell on your head and shattered, sending you to your own personal nightmare rift. But now that I have the Time Piece here, I can send us back to town in an instant," I said, him gulping and stopping me before I could do the deed.

"Wait!... I don't wish to go back to Mafia. I want to go to scenic beach resort on other side of planet... need vacation after this..." the guy said, me smiling at him as I then focused and found the resort simply by looking into his mind with my Time Pieces. I smiled and focused my powers and I warped us out of the place. I warped him to the resort and I warped myself back to my ship. And upon arrival, I saw that Mustache Girl was looking at her planet from the window and smiling at it. I simply put the collected Time Pieces into the vault and then locked it up tight, getting her attention.

"Oi, mate. You took your time, didn't ya?" she smirked at me.

"Sorry, the rifts took a bit longer than I'd like to solve. Anyways, what do you think of the view of the planet?" I smiled at her, Mustache Girl smiling at me.

"It looks beautiful, Hat Kid. I never expected our planet would be so blue... I had no idea there was so much water on our planet..." she gawked.

"I've seen multiple planets like yours, but yours so far has more water than any planet I've been to," I smiled at her.

"All the more reason to stop the Mafia. Okay, I have a plan of attack, so let's go over it," Mustache Girl smirked as she then got to my chalkboard and went over it. "Okay, here's the plan I have in place. We storm the highest point of the Mafia Town atop the large geyser in town. Once accomplished, we'll go inside and take out their leader. If the leader falls, all the Mafia will surely clear out after. But first thing's first, the only way to the top of that place is by a special cannon, which is currently locked up tight. The key is kept with the maintenance manager, who so happens to have an hourglass on him from this ship. You can't miss him. He's the guy who's terrified of aliens and he wears green goggles on his face," Mustache Kid smirked.

"Sounds okay," I smiled at her.

"Then, when we finally corner the mafia leader, we break all his bones, grind him to mush, and put his parts into a jar!" she said, me gasping at that.

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! Isn't that a bit too drastic?!" I asked in shock.

"What? You telling me he should be let off the hook?" Mustache Girl asked.

"No, we're going to punish him, but not to that level of destruction! Maybe send him to a place that he won't like at all? I can see his mind after all, so I can tell which place he hates above all else. But we will break some of his bones, I promise that much. But everything else? Nada!" I said to her.

"Okay, okay, sheesh... I thought you were a good guy," she frowned.

"Yes, I am a good person. Which is why I'm not going to kill anyone as gruesome as what you described!" I frowned, Mustache Girl sighing.

"Yeah, you're right... sorry... it's just, the Mafia did some terrible things to me and my family in the past. I want to make them pay," she sighed.

"And we will make them pay, but not to the point where they get killed. We have to hurt them where it hurts. Their pride. I'm sure that two little girls defeating their leader in battle will be enough to make their pride hurt so much, they'll be too depressed and hurt to do anything else," I smiled at her.

"Okay, that's good thinking, Hat Kid. Alright, I'll take position by the cannon in the town and you get to grabbing the hourglass and key from the maintenance guy. I recommend dressing as some kind of spooky thing to scare the pants off him, though. Make yourself look inhuman," Mustache Girl suggested.

"Alright, Mustache Girl. Follow me," I smiled as I led her to the kitchen and showed her the escape hatch under the stove, her being a bit concerned but me smirking and putting her in first. I sent her to the planet before I then went down after her. I descended faster and grabbed her before we could get hurled into the ground. I then let out my umbrella and opened it, slowing our descent as we touched down on the ground by the pier of the town.

"Whew, that was a wild ride!" Mustache Girl smirked.

"I'm naturally immune to feeling the force of gravitational impact, but I knew you wouldn't have the same luxury, so I used the umbrella to slow down our descent," I smiled at her. "Now you go to the cannon while I get dressed to scare. I think a bit of mud on my body should be enough," I smirked as I saw a mud puddle nearby and I jumped into it, my body getting coated in the stuff and my eyes glowing bright green afterwards, Mustache Girl smirking at my appearance.

"Whoa! How'd you get your eyes to glow green?" she asked in surprise.

"I'm currently wearing a mask on the top of my head. My eyes always glow green when I wear a mask. Helps me see invisible things," I smiled at her.

"Cool! I'll go to the cannon, you go scare the pants off the guy," she smirked.

"Indeed," I smiled back at her.


	3. Taking Down the Mafia

**Chapter 3**

I soon got to the area where the mobster guy was that had the green goggles, him looking to be spooked as he looked around timidly.

"A-Aliens from outer space! A spaceship is in the sky and they sent these things down upon us! Mafia is doomed! All of us are doomed!" the guy said with fear, which made me smirk. I simply made my way to him from behind, making sure to make weird sounds to spook him.

"Grragghr... geeagh..." I moaned in my best monster impression as I approached the guy from behind. And when he saw me, he shrieked like a little girl and ran for the hills, dropping the key to the cannon in the process! I grabbed it and pocketed it before rushing after him and onto some elevated platforms that were hung in the air by propellers.

"Whew... I think I lost it..." he said, me simply shuffling my feet and groaning again.

"Rarggh..." I growled, him shrieking again and rushing further down the place until he was atop a banner, him sighing at that while I followed after him silently.

"Finally... let's see that monster get here of all places..." the guy said.

"Reeiggh?' I smirked, making him stutter and turn around, him then collapsing on the ground in defeat.

"Okay, okay! I give up! What do you want from me?!" the guy cried in tears, me looking at the hourglass and telling him.

"hooorr... glasss..." I growled in my monster voice, the guy gasping and shaking.

"Okay, okay, take it! Leave me alone please!" the guy begged for mercy as he dropped the hourglass on the ground and I picked it up with a smile.

"Heh, thanks loser," I smirked with my tongue sticking out as I then rushed back to the main area, the guy gobsmacked and in shock.

"YOU BITCH!" he exclaimed from afar, me giggling at how dumb the guy was!

I then got to the cannon and saw Mustache Girl right beside it, me presenting the key as the mud finally washed off from the rain getting more intense.

"Heh, I heard that guy get mad on your way back. You musta ticked him off real good when he saw ya weren't a monster," she smirked at me.

"Right on the money," I smiled as I unlocked the hatch for the cannon and Mustache Girl got in first, the cannon pointing upwards and shooting her to the top of the complex in one go! I then saw the cannon return to normal and I did the same, the rush of the blast making me smile at the g-force in my face! And when I touched down on the place, I saw that there was a double-button door ahead for us to use.

"Let's go and wreck this party," Mustache Girl smirked as we pushed the buttons and we headed inside, Mustache Girl looking at me with a smile.

"Okay, here's the plan. You try to find a key to the mess hall's side door and I'll go take out their chefs," Mustache Girl said.

"Okay," I smirked as I then saw a Mafia goon and smirked at how he was asleep at a slot machine. He didn't know it, but he had just one big! I didn't bother to wake him up, though, as I had a plan in mind upon seeing that the key was guarded by a button-styled gate. I picked up the Mafia guy and dragged him to the button while he snoozed. And when the gates rose, just to be cautious, I used my bandanna hat and slowed time so I could grab the key. And once I got it, I then placed a piece of paper on the back of the guy saying "Kick Me" on it. "Hehe," I smirked at my misdeed.

I then moved to the kitchen area of the Mafia base and smirked at how Mustache Girl had taken out the cooks with some frying pans to their heads.

Okay, you go on and take out their boss, I'll stay here and cover for you," Mustache Girl smiled.

"Stay safe," I smiled back at her as I went through the door and found myself in a hallway that led directly to the big boss in charge, him looking at me in confusion.

"What is this? Little girl in top hat made it to my chambers? What business does little girl have with Mafia?" the guy asked, him having a deeper voice than his goons. That and he was much shorter, only a bit taller than me if I wore the top hat.

"I want to break your spirit, your bones, and your pride. You think you and your Mafia are all high and mighty, treating others like crap and trashing my spaceship? Let's see how broken you get when word gets out you were beaten by a little girl in a top hat," I smiled at him as I held my umbrella out with a smile.

"So, you're that mysterious alien I've heard about? The one messing with my mafia? Prepare to be beaten to within an inch of your life!" the Mafia boss said angrily as he then snapped his fingers and I gasped when a secret door appeared behind his throne and he tried to book it, but I was on his tail the whole way to, get this, a theatre stage!

"Prepare for a shock!" the mafia boss exclaimed as he slammed two dual pistols into the ground to send waves of electricity at me, which I jumped over until he got tired, allowing me to rush him and get a clean hit to his left arm with my punch, him gasping as I heard the bone break.

"Aw, did I break your arm? Somebody needs to go to the vet, doesn't he?" I smiled in the most mocking manner I could, the mafia boss growling as he snapped his fingers again and I saw he was one step ahead of me.

"Oi! Lemme go this instant!" Mustache Girl exclaimed as her body was tied up around the waist and hung in the background of the stage, me frowning at the mafia boss angrily.

"You better release her or I'm taking away your kid makers," I frowned as I tripped him with my umbrella and he gulped. You have five seconds to comply," I frowned at him.

"You're bluffing," he growled at me.

"Four. Three," I frowned, his face beginning to sweat as my hat switched to bandanna form. "Two..." I smirked, the mafia boss about to say something... but too little too late. "One!" I exclaimed as I stabbed the point of the umbrella right into his crotch and I heard him sing soprano before dropping to the ground.

"Boss!" I heard a Mafia grunt exclaim from nearby, me looking in that direction and seeing that Mustache Girl was free. And guess what? She found a Time Piece!

"I suggest you clear out of this town and never bother anyone again, or you'll end up like the short cripple over here," I frowned, the boss gulping at that.

"Huh?" he asked before I slowed time and rushed to his back, connecting a kick to it and the mafia leader falling to the ground, forever paralyzed from the waist down!

"That's what you get for terrorizin' me island you bloody wankers!" Mustache Girl exclaimed before she accidentally did the thing I feared most. She dropped the Time Piece on the ground and it cracked a bit. What was the result? Time rewound for her and only her for ten seconds. "That's what you get for... huh?" she gulped as I hurriedly grabbed the Time Piece from her and fixed it up with my powers, her gawking at that.

"T-Those things... they control time?!" Mustache Girl asked in shock.

"Ugh... yes, they do," I frowned at her.

"Do you know what that means?!" she asked, me knowing already what was happening to her. "We could go back in time and stop the Mafia from taking over! No, even better! We can stop all the crimes of every criminal in the entire world! What do you say?!" she asked, me sighing at her.

"My answer is no. A hell no, if you will," I frowned at her.

"Huh?! W-Why not?!" she asked in surprise.

"Because you have no idea the severity of messing with the temporal flow could be. Changing even one thing in the timeline, no matter how small, can cause a number of disasters to occur! Taking out the Mafia would mean that you and I would have never met. It would also mean that this planet... hmm..." I frowned as I looked at the past of this planet in particular. And I gawked at what I saw. "It would also mean this planet would be covered completely in lava! Because if not for the Mafia, the world wouldn't have its water supply!" I gawked at that, Mustache Girl frowning at me.

"Y-You're lying! You can't fool me!" she exclaimed at me.

"S-She tells truth..." the mafia boss groaned from his position. "Me form Mafia here... but to do so... needed to close volcano. Biggest in the world. This entire island... one big volcano. If we never came... this world would not be around..." the Mafia boss groaned, me frowning at Mustache Girl and her stammering a bit.

"You see? Even the big boss of the Mafia says it's true. And you should trust me, as I'm the one who knows how the timelines go. After all, my spaceship is fueled by these Time Pieces. I am saying nothing but the truth that time traveling and messing with the time flow is only going to lead to trouble," I frowned at her. Mustache Girl finally sighed and nodded at me.

"Fine... sorry for doing that... it's just... these brutes have had a hand in killing nearly everyone in my entire family. Me and my older sister are the only ones left," Mustache Girl frowned.

"Okay... I think it's time I called you by your real name now," I smiled at her.

"My real name?... Heh, fine. I'll give you a small name too," she smiled at me.

"Only you will call me that name, though. And only when we're in private," I frowned at her.

"Okay... my real name is **Mustard Stachio. **Dumb name, ain't it?" she smiled.

"Not at all. I love mustard," I smiled at her.

"Heh. Than I'll call you **Ketchup**," Mustard smiled at me, me smirking at her.

"Your word puns are painful, but I like that," I smiled at her as I then held her hand... but just before we would've left, we gasped as the alarm suddenly blared out of nowhere!

"All Mafia troops! Evacuate the main suite immediately! The faucets for the volcano have been turned on! We're doomed!" an announcer exclaimed, me gawking at that and looking at Mustard with a frown.

"Did you do that?" I asked her.

"No, I didn't... you don't think that... uh-oh..." she gulped as she looked above us and I gawked. It was another girl, this one being a bit taller than Mustard but having the same hair color and attire, only her hood was black, her dress blue, and her hair much longer and unkempt.

"**Paprika**! What are you doing?!" Mustard asked in shock.

"I heard that whole speech, sister! If those things can turn the tide of time, I can finally save our parents, yet you don't decide to do that?! For all you know, this mystery girl could be sided with the Mafia!" the girl named Paprika exclaimed in anger, my ponytail twitching and waving angrily along with my emotions.

"You seriously didn't see me smash this guy's spine?! Damn, you came a bit late to the party," I frowned at her.

"Liar! I will collect those Time Pieces myself and I'll use them to change the fate of this world!... No, not just this world. I will eliminate all evil from across the universe!" she exclaimed, me gasping at that.

"YOU CAN'T!" I exclaimed angrily as I jumped twice in the air and tried to grab onto Paprika, but I was shocked at how she did something I didn't expect. She countered my attack by smacking me into the ground with a large pipe to my torso!

"Have fun trying to turn off the faucets that control the lava flow, Hat Kid! They're nearly impossible to reach without getting burned to a golden crisp!" Paprika exclaimed as she then did something else shocking. She jumped through the roof of the place and ran off into the distance, me gawking at that.

"Dammit! She's going to ruin everything!" Mustard exclaimed in anger, me simply falling to the ground and pounding it multiple times until I got the floor underneath us to open up, me seeing we were in an area where the lava didn't reach.

"Not just that... if she eliminates evil from the entire universe... my mother... she may never exist!" I exclaimed in anger.

"You mean you've had a mother and she never named you?" Mustard asked.

"The Hattians always name their child at age 70, as that's the age where they stop being in baby form and turn into children like me. I was kidnapped when I was 60 by a Space Pirate who wanted to sell me for a brothel... little did he know that I had a very different aging process, so he was so fed up with keeping up with baby me that when I finally turned into a child, he jumped ship, allowing me to have his spaceship and for me to convert it into my own, including the fuel source being the Time Pieces. Those Time Pieces aren't just part of the Space-Time continuum, but they're part of me. So if they get shattered, I'd be fine, but everything else that isn't on my ship would change drastically! My parents would be erased forever, your planet will be covered in lava, and even other beautiful planets I've visited in my past would get completely destroyed!" I exclaimed in anger.

"Oh my god... WE NEED TO STOP HER!" Mustard exclaimed.

"First thing's first, we need to turn off those faucets around the town," I frowned.

"Why? This town's gonna get trashed and that's my dream!" Mustard smiled.

"Remember what the Mafia leader said? He said that this island had the largest volcano in the entire planet. If this volcano's very sealing would be enough to force water to appear all over the world, then leaving the volcano active will ruin the world once again! Anyone swimming in the water? Dead! Any fish? Dead! Any houses on beach fronts or boats out at sea? Utterly demolished!" I said, Mustard only then realizing the plight her world would be in.

"Okay, fine! Let's go close those faucets!" she said, me nodding at her as we fell down the hole in the floor and we landed safely on the ground thanks to me letting out my umbrella during our descent. And wouldn't you know it, we landed right where I wanted us to. Right by the Badge Seller.


	4. Saving Mafia and Studio Rivalry

**Chapter 4**

"Whoa! Who's this creepy guy?!" Mustard asked when she saw the Badge Seller.

"Hey, that's rude, Mustard. This is the Badge Seller. He just looks this way because he's been to many worlds and it hurt his body... right?" I smiled at the Badge Seller.

"The Hattian is correct, mustached child. Would you like to purchase a badge or two?" the Badge Seller asked while I looked around and saw that the lava was already seeping into the waters around Mafia Town.

"Quickly, what do ya got?" I asked him.

"I have a badge that can give your sprint hats a special scooter to go even faster... a badge that can give you a grappling hook... and a badge that makes most words incomprehensible," the Badge Seller said, me confused at the last one.

"Um... the first and second options sound good," I smiled at him.

"That'll be 500 Green Pons, then," he smiled, me grabbing my case in my pocket and handing him 500 of my Green Pons, it nearly wiping out all my funds, but I knew I could get more from my secret safe in my secret gallery safe when I got back to the ship.

"Okay, time to save the town!" I said as I equipped the grappling badge to myself and I kept the other badge on me for secondary means. Mustard smiled as she saw a faucet nearby and she grabbed a spare umbrella that was on the ground, this one being red in color as opposed to my blue one.

"I'll start closing up the faucets in town, you can get the ones that are out in the open waters," Mustard said to me.

"Understood," I smiled at her as I looked in my top hat's point of view and I smiled. There were three faucets in town and there were two in the open waters. One was behind the large lighthouse and the other was on a small island that I could see from near the beach area that had the pink rift earlier. I rushed to the one by the Lighthouse first, proceeding there while avoiding the lava all the way. And upon arrival, I saw that it'd be a bit harder than I thought as the only way there was a bunch of tightropes across the lava. I sighed and went down to the area and carefully jumped across the tightropes one by one until I got to the faucet, me standing on the spout and whacking my umbrella against the valve with great force until it finally turned off the whole way and stayed that way. No way anyone could open the faucet at the tightness I put it at!

"Now for the other one," I smiled as I then proceeded to the other side of the island and saw the way to the other faucet was across a bunch of platforms that had feet on them. And when I touched one, I gasped as it then started to fall, which forced me to jump across them quickly until I reached the island, where I got a chest containing, get this, a hundred Green Pons! I grabbed them all and put them in my case and then went to the faucet and did the same deed to it as the other one, forcing it off in an instant. And after I did this, I smirked at how the lava in the center of the island stopped flowing. And in its place, the geyser of water spewed once again, the lava turning into ash the moment it got touched by the water, me smiling at that and proceeding to the area with the cannon, where Mustard was already waiting.

"Come on, the Mafia said they have a gift for us," Mustard smiled as we then got in the cannon and got to the very top of the main suite again, where we saw that the Mafia goons were smiling at us and they happened to have, get this, three different Time Pieces to give us!

"Well, thanks a lot, guys!" I smiled as I got the Time Pieces with a smile.

"You're welcome. And thanks for saving Mafia Town... now leave, please. And don't come back. We don't need anymore negative publicity," the Mafia goon with the green goggles said to me.

"Very well, we can live with that. Besides, I need these things to get back home," I smiled at him.

"Yeah... by the way, I'm still mad at you for tricking me," the green goggled goon frowned.

"Well, it worked, didn't it? Besides, that shriek was priceless," I smirked at him as I then focused my powers into the Time Pieces and I warped myself and Mustard back to my ship, us putting the different Time Pieces into the vault and seeing we had a total of 10 so far!

"Sweet! We've got enough to open up the way to the Engine Room!" I smiled at that.

"Cool! Let's get going!" Mustard smiled as we then went to that room and I pushed the power button, the door opening and me going inside with Mustard following close behind.

"So, which place do we go to next, Ketchup?" she smiled at me.

"Hmm..." I smiled as I looked through my telescope and saw the next candidate for me. "This planet here is the perfect candidate. I saw multiple Time Pieces fall on the planet. It looks to be quite colorful, but also has some areas that look like deserts," I smiled.

"That must be the next-door planet to mine, then. It's filled with bird people for its populace and they happen to love movies. I bet you anything the place we should go should be Dead Bird Studio, where only the elite of the elite go to make films," Mustard smiled.

"Let's go to the cinema, then," I smiled as I then showed her the escape hatch to the engine room was hidden underneath the boiler, which was activated by a button. "Okay, let's get down there. Same as before, you go first, I go after you and slow our descent," I smiled at her.

"Deal," Mustard smiled as she went down first and then I followed after. Upon entering the atmosphere of the bird-filled planet, I saw it was actually kinda hot, which I didn't expect. I grabbed onto Mustard at around the 500 foot mark and opened my umbrella, her gasping at the slowing of the descent being so sudden, but sighing at that.

"Whew... the g-force is still takin' some gettin' used to," Mustard admitted with a half-hearted laugh.

"It was like that for me on my first few tries," I smiled at her as we then landed right outside the front entrance to the studio and we then got inside. And guess what we saw inside? Two different birds that were having an argument. One looked like a very yellow owl with hair that completely covered his eyes and him wearing a black suit and a black barrette on his head. And the other? He was a very large penguin dressed in a fashion that could best be described as neon hipster. He had large heeled shoes, a huge Afro, and a very sweet jacket. Oh, and he also had a microphone in his hands.

"Yo, what's happenin', Conductor, baby?" the penguin asked, me smiling at that.

"You don't care, so why even bother, DJ Grooves?! Besides, you're never going to get a win with those awful movies of yers," the owl guy said, his voice filled with venom when he said the name of the penguin.

"I feel you are underestimating my strategy this year, Conductor. Besides, we have variety. You make nothing but western movies," Grooves said, me looking to the wall on Conductor's side and seeing it was, in fact, filled with Western movie posters.

"Wha? That's not all we do... Bah, what does it matter anyways? We're gonna win this year just like every year!" Conductor smirked, me smiling from nearby with Mustard close by.

"Oh, but I feel you misunderstand. Boys, bring them in," DJ Grooves said as a large box appeared soon after. And guess what was in it? At least four different Time Pieces! "See these new shiny props? They're gonna be the centerpieces of our newest movies," Grooves smiled.

"Oh really? Well, I have quite the surprise for you, DJ Grooves. Come on in, mates!" Conductor smirked as I saw he had a box just like Grooves did and he happened to have 3 different Time Pieces. "We have these props that are going to beat yours into the dirt... wait... Whatta what?! You clouts! You copied our props!" Conductor exclaimed angrily.

"Ahem, I apologize, Conductor, but I do believe that it is you who copied our props," DJ Grooves said, me then deciding it was the perfect time to interject.

"AHEM!" I exclaimed, getting their attention. "I feel I need to say this, but those 'props' you have there? They fell off of my ship and they belong to me. Besides, why would hourglasses be centerpieces of movies anyways?" I asked, the duo frowning at me after that.

"Hmph! You think we'd believe you? You're just a newbie!" Conductor frowned, me only then deciding to use my powers to prove it to them. I focused it into the Time Pieces they had and showed them my memories. How I had all of them on my ship before and how the Mafia goon from Mafia Town sent them to the different planets, including theirs. In fact, when I saw my memories for myself, I counted at least 10 different Time Pieces that fell to this planet, which meant some of them had turned into rifts.

"W-What?... How?" DJ Grooves gawked.

"I'm a Hattian and those hourglasses not only power my ship, but they are also a part of me. So I want them back," I frowned at them, but then I saw the duo have the cogs begin to turn in their heads while Conductor gawked at Mustard.

"Hold it! Look at that mustache! Yes... very good. You could be the star attraction to my movie, lass! Tell me, do you work with the Hattian kid?" Conductor smiled at her.

"Aye, that I do, mate," she smiled.

"Haha! I have the perfect plan, then!" Conductor smirked. "Here's the deal, DJ Grooves! We shall have a competition of sorts. We will have these two lovely lassies in each of our movies! This mustached child will star in my movie and the Hattian shall star in yours. This will surely make our movies interesting enough to smoke the competition! Then it'll all be up to the fans to vote for which movie is better!" Conductor smiled widely.

"You know? You got yourself a dealio, Conductor, babe! Little Hat Kid, you'll be the star attraction of my wonderous movies! Come, we must get going!" DJ Grooves smiled at me.

"Yeah, hold on for one second, first," I smiled as I went to Mustard and whispered something in her ear.

"If you find any rifts and go into them, I'll know if you touch it. But I need to evaluate your brain pattern first," I frowned at her.

"Fine," she smirked as I then placed my fingers to her temples and I smiled at how her brain patterns were a bit erratic, they were a reddish-purple color, and I saw the thoughts of the Mafia, her family, and helping me save the others.

"Okay, now I'll know the moment you touch a Time Piece in a rift. I'll go ahead and warp you back to wherever you were at prior afterwards," I smiled at her in a whisper.

"Okay, lass, enough talkin' with the competition, it's time to make you the star of my show! You're gonna be the biggest thing in cinema since Birdemic the movie!" DJ Grooves smirked, me being confused at that, as I'd heard that title before.

"Uh, isn't that the name of a flop movie?" I asked.

"Naw, girl, I'm talkin' about a different Birdemic movie made on this planet, not on any of those other planets that got a cruddy redesigned Birdemic," DJ Grooves smiled widely at me. I just had to wonder what kind of tasks I'd have to do just to get the Time Pieces that DJ Grooves had.


	5. The Battle of the Birdbrains

**Chapter 5**

**Mustard POV:**

On my way to the photo booth with the Conductor, I happened to see a Rift, which I immediately bee-lined for and completed with ease. And when I touched it, I felt the thing warp me right back to the area I was before and the Conductor gawked at my return.

"Whoa! Where'd ya disappear to and then reappear at?! You some kind of magician?" the Conductor asked.

"No, I'm helping Hat Kid collect these hourglasses because they are incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands," I said to him.

"So that's how you disappeared. I was wondering what that blue light was there... Ahem, anyways, let's go get your ID made," Conductor smiled as he led me to the photo area just in time to see Ketchup finishing her photo. And I had to admit, her photo looked adorable! She had a cutesy pose with a peace sign on her fingers, which I thought adorable. And DJ Grooves agreed.

"Oh, Hat Kid! You are an absolute beast at photogenic opportunities!... Aha! I know the perfect movie for you! Come, it's time to make the fans squeal!" DJ Grooves smiled widely as he then led Ketchup off to their studio and I then went to take my photo next.

"Okay, name please?" Conductor asked.

"Name's Mustard, but you can just call me Mustache Girl," I smiled at him.

"Ah, a moniker user, eh? Then let's take a badass picture. Can you look smug and mean-looking?" Conductor smiled at me.

"Heh, that's my favorite look, mate," I smiled as I did my best badass face I could. Angry eyes, frown, and the twitching in my mustache. He then took the picture and smiled when I added the curled fist.

"Sweet! Now time for us to get to the filming area. Follow me," Conductor smiled at me as he led me out to the back of the studio and I gawked at how he happened to have a giant train prop that was put against a cool western backdrop. "Before film begins happening, I know I heard one of my Owl Guards say that there was a purple light in the train car before the engine. You get that one first, then we'll begin," the Conductor smiled at me.

"Thanks, mate," I smiled at him as I hopped onto the second train car and looked back at the Conductor.

"Meet me in the back of the caboose when you're done," he said, me nodding and giving the okay sign before entering the car and seeing the rift in the coffee area. And there were at least twenty crows nearby who were telling bad stories and laughing about them. Most likely extras to the film.

I then entered the rift and I gasped at how it was vastly different than the blue one prior. How so? The place looked almost like the studio proper, including the cameras that now had a red light to them. I soon git started and saw a strange yellow orb. I thought it important and picked it up to see something I didn't expect. It was Conductor when he won his very first award!

"Ah, this is a great success, boyos!" he smiled as the memory played out and I got a couple more, which furthered the memories. And then came the rival of DJ Grooves.

"Whuh?! A newbie like you beating me? Don't make me laugh!" Conductor laughed.

"You poor owls are gonna be begging to go hone after you see our swinging movies," Grooves smiled.

I then made it to the next area, which was filled with tons of crates and more cameras, which I felt would really hurt if I got seen by them. I got a couple more orbs and saw some more of the story play out.

"No! This is rigged! It's gotta be!" Conductor exclaimed at the fact that his movie lost to Grooves.

"Believe it, darlin', I just won. Now I'm gonna keep the viewers entertained for quite awhile," Grooves smiled, thus starting their rivalry.

And when I collected one final piece? "Okay, Grooves, ya better explain how all my trophies just up and vanished!" Conductor growled at the tacky penguin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, bud. Besides, you have no evidence. No evidence means no crime," DH Grooves said, me frowning at that. Grooves was lying through his beak. How could I tell? He wasn't dancing. He did the same thing when he told Ketchup that Birdemic was big in this planet.

"Despicable. Now I know I gotta win this. In the name of justice, I will expose DJ Grooves as the fraud hack job he really is!" I declared as I finally got to the area of interest, which was a small viewing venue with a pink sphere floating in the air in the side room. I went in and proceeded to whack the heck out of the sphere, getting a ton of those Green Pons as Ketchup called them. And when it finally shattered, a crow was the one who appeared along with the Time Piece.

"Wha?! What's going on? I feel like I had too many seeds... inserted into me head," the crow groaned.

"I just saved you from this world. Now, I'll need you to hold onto me when I touch the hourglass. It's the only way to get back onto the train," I smiled at him.

"Okay... I trust ya," the crow said, him holding on with his wing as I grabbed the Time Piece and I felt both of us warp back to the train just as the crows began to laugh again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get to my position for when the filming starts," the crow said, me nodding at him as I simply hid the Time Piece in my small backpack, which managed to hold it easily.

"Time to go to the caboose to meet with the Conductor," I smiled as I proceeded in that direction with a smile on my face. I did have to wonder how the movie would get filmed...

* * *

**Hat Kid POV:**

I saw everything that Mustard saw when she was in that purple rift, which I honestly didn't expect to see. But I knew it was plausible for her to see the memories of the ones affected in those purple rifts, as she wasn't a Hattian. But since she wasn't, she was able to see the memories play out and I saw them as well. And now I knew that DJ Grooves was a fraud and a lying cheater. And that was made blatantly obvious when the first movie role he gave me was basically nothing but trying to make me popular with regular people. It wasn't a movie. It was a celebrity endorsement! But I didn't say anything and instead used my powers to help out in certain challenges such as getting a puppy down from a fountain (it was a cutout piece of plywood), going to an alleyway to tango with some penguin thugs, and using my powers to look at a penguin's mind to deduce which card he had in his hand. A three of spades. And once the thing was all said and done, DJ Grooves gave me one of his Time Pieces and I did a final pose for the camera with it in hand, me winking in it with a big smile.

And when the day came for the movie critics' reception, I smiled at how Mustard's movie, Murder on the Owl Express, was actually the superior one. And the critics agreed. While they gave Grooves's movie a score of 607, they gave the Conductor's movie a rating of 790!

"Well, well, it looks like the Conductor's movie is superior this time," Mustard smirked at me in the waiting rooms.

"Yeah... but so you know, I saw everything that you did in that purple rift. It made me surprised, mostly because I thought only Hattians could see them," I admitted to her.

"Now we know that we need to be careful. We can't tell the duo anything about our plan. And we need to keep to our scripts... oh, and by the way, I'll need to borrow your grappling hook badge. The next movie Conductor signed me up for requires me to be quick and nimble across multiple gaps."

"Okay, here ya go," I smiled as I took the badge off of my hat and put it right on her hood, which she smiled at. "Just remember that the hook is going to come out of your umbrella's tip."

"Got it. Umbrella tip equals grappling hook," Mustard smiled as I then saw that DJ Grooves was approaching us.

"Okay, I think we should go back to our respective directors, now. Good luck, Mustache Girl," I smiled at her.

"And good luck to you as well, Hat Kid," she smiled back at me as I went to DJ Grooves and he looked at me with a smile.

"Getting chummy with the competition are we, darlin'?" he smiled at me.

"Naw, we were just chatting about non-movie stuff. Mainly the rifts that she had to go into to get a couple more of those hourglasses," I said with a smile.

"Rifts? What do they look like?" DJ Grooves asked.

"They're like a sphere with swirls in it and they contain a large gauntlet of skill in order to get to the hourglass at the end. It happens whenever they collide with a person or an object and shatters. As in, nothing good happens," I frowned at him.

"Hmm, I see. So you know, the place we were filming today? There is a blue circle thing in an area by the balconies of the houses to the northwest of the area. You know, where we started filming yesterday? Around that area," DJ Grooves said.

"Got it. So what are we going to do for our next movie?" I asked him.

"Oh, darling, we're going to make you the star of the largest cast of characters in the history of film! You're going to be the center attraction to the most elaborate parade of all time! And you're going to be the leader of a marching band. The fans are going to go ca-razy for it!" DJ Grooves smiled at me. I had to admit, that sounded very fun. "Of course, you'll need to do the shoot first before going to the rift, but when the shoot is done, you'll be free to do the rift or whatever that entails."

"Thanks, pal," I smiled at him as we then went off to our set, which was actually a few blocks away from the studio.


	6. Unlikely Allies

**Chapter 6**

**Hat Kid POV:**

"Ugh... so many fans... the cheering... the constant touching... I feel exhausted..." I groaned as I had Mustard with me in the seats for the awards ceremony. I did manage to also get the Time Piece at the end of the rift DJ Grooves mentioned, but after that, I needed some sleep. I'd been operating on over 2 Hattian days without sleep after all!

"I'll watch over you while you catch a few Zs, Ketchup," Mustard smiled at me.

"Thanks..." I smiled as I then tried to dream. And to my surprise, I was immediately able to connect my mind to my mother's.

"Darling... you look dead tired. What have you been doing?" mom asked me with a worried tone in her voice.

"Ugh... a bit of turbulence in my ship happened, mother... the Time Pieces that power it were scattered across at least 5 different planets in the system I'm currently in... and I'm needing to team up with a little girl with a mustache on her in order to find them... and something else... her sister, Paprika, is wanting to use them to delete all evil from the universe..." I groaned, mother gasping at that.

"My child... you must've had quite the rough four days so far... have you been operating on four days without sleep?" mom asked me in shock, me only then gasping at that.

"Oh my god... you're right! The planets I keep going to have the same timeframe, which is nearly half the time for us Hattians!... So that means I've been awake for four straight days!... Ugh... I need to keep up a consistent sleep schedule..." I groaned.

"I recommend sleeping at least four hours a day if you can. You mustn't allow this Paprika woman to alter the timeline in any manner. I don't think I need to mention of what may happen if she succeeds, right?" mother asked me.

"I know already. If she eliminates all evil from the universe, nearly everyone in the world will be in grave danger. Both bad people and good people will never exist, planets would change drastically, and people would be erased from history... I can't allow that to happen to anyone... especially you... oh, I wish I could just see your face... Just one time..." I said with tears in my eyes.

"I know, darling... I know... you'll need to sleep for a bit, though. Regather your energy to collect your Time Pieces. The fate of the universe lies in your hands," mother said, me smiling as I felt her voice leave me and I slept normally a bit... but then I gasped awake as I saw that Mustard was shaking me awake... and I saw that it was nearly 9 pm in this planet!

"Wh... Who won?" I asked her.

"DJ Grooves did... but here's the thing. He won by only one point. A last-minute entry for a tie-breaker. I smell a rat and so does the Conductor... but DJ Grooves did tell me to give you this Time Piece as thanks for helping him win the award," Mustard smiled as she handed me a Time Piece and I smiled at her.

"Thanks... so I fell asleep at what time again?" I asked.

"Around 6. Why?" she asked.

"That means I've been asleep for 6 hours, then. I needed that rest... thanks," I smiled at her.

"Wait... huh? What are you talking about? It's been three hours," Mustard frowned.

"For everyone in this system of planets, yes, that would be the case. But as for my home planet, we have a time schedule that runs twice as fast as these ones. So one day for you is actually 2 for me. I was running on four days of no sleep," I smiled at Mustard, her gawking at that.

"Whoa, that's bad... we need to get back to the ship. You do the deed."

"Right," I smiled as I focused the power into our Time Pieces and we got back to the ship... but upon arriving back in the Engine Room, I was about to go through the door and I was surprised by something. "Huh? Locked? That's not right..." I frowned. I then tried to sense for other lifeforms on my ship, but I sensed none. I the heard a ringing noise from nearby and saw it came from the telephone booth I input to call my mother at certain times. "I'll get it," I smiled as I answered the call. "Hello, you've reached the spaceship of Hat Kid," I smiled at the person on the other end... but the voice on the other end terrified me.

"The award ceremony was rigged. DJ Grooves has massive skeletons in his closet," the voice said, it sounding completely demonic... "Go to Dead Bird Studio at Midnight. I'll leave the front door open for you. Get to their basement from the Owl studio's lounge. What do you think goes on under the studio when the day is done? Discover the truth," the voice said, it then hanging up and me gulping and hanging the phone up afterwards.

"Hey! The door's working now," Mustard smiled at me... but I was a bit shaken. "What's up, mate?"

"Someone just called saying that DJ Grooves won unfairly. He said to go to the basement of Dead Bird Studio at midnight tonight and that the caller would leave the front door open... but the voice sounded utterly terrifying..." I gulped as I shook a bit. I'd never heard a voice that scary before... but Mustard smiled at me.

"You don't get it? That was Conductor callin' ya! He used that same voice with me durin' the Murder on the Owl Express movie. Remember?" she asked, me gasping as I did remember. The voice sounded just like the mystery caller in the movie that Mustard starred in as the detective!

"Oh yeah, you're right! That could very easily be the case!... Okay, let's go to the safe to put in the Time Pieces and then spend some time deciding on a plan of attack to the basement of Dead Bird Studio," I smiled.  
"Agreed," Mustard smiled as we went to the vault and deposited our Time Pieces, the score now coming out to 19 total. "Okay, one more and my bedroom will have power back," I smiled.

"Alright, now let's-" Mustard was about to say... but the alarms suddenly went off out of nowhere! I gasped as I happened to see someone waiting outside of my spaceship that I did not expect. It was the leader of the mafia and he was in a rocket-powered wheelchair!

"Ahem... excuse me, but I'd like to join you on the ship, please?... Mafia boss feel threatened from Paprika woman," the boss said, me frowning at him and switching my hat to the announcing set.

"And why should I trust you again?" I asked him.

"Mafia boss don't expect you to trust in me... but think about it. Chair too big to go up your tiny ramps, legs broken, and escape doors boarded up. Mafia boss no harm to you," the guy said, me sighing at that and looking at Mustard with a frown.

"I'm going to ask... what do you think, Mustard?" I asked my friend.

"He's an evil person, but that just means he's a big target for my sister's plans. And like he said, he won't be of any harm. Let him on, but make sure he is restricted to this room only," Mustard frowned.

"Fine, you're in. If you need to use the bathroom or need food, talk to my service disc. She'll help you out," I smiled at him.

"Um... service disc?" Mustard asked as I warped the Mafia boss to the main room and I immediately took off the rockets that were on his wheelchair, which the mafia boss sighed at.

"Sorry, but I can't take chances. Espeically with the contents of that vault. The items within are incredibly dangerous and can spell doom upon the whole universe if misused," I frowned.

"Yes, I heard you say that before. Back in main suite," he said.

"Correct. Now, like I said, the service disc here can help with getting you food, drink, and helping you go to the bathroom. Just say the word followed by the word please and she'll do it for ya," I smiled as I then demonstrated as the disc came around to me. "Water, please," I smiled at it.

"Refreshments on their way," the service disc smiled as it then made a couple beeping noises and Mustard and the mafia boss were surprised and stunned when a glass of water floated from the kitchen all the way to my hand. "Refreshments are served," the service disc smiled... before it then smacked into the display of one of my personal treasures and groaned. "Ack! Changing directions," she smiled, making Mustard smirk.

"She uh... has a couple of kinks to work out in the movement department, but she's getting better," I smiled at them.

"Cute little robot," the mafia leader smiled.

"Oh, and one more thing, the buttons on my control panel are all off limits. In fact..." I frowned as I then went to the desk and put it into sleep mode. "Okay, now the thing can't be broken into unless they put my secret password inside. And nobody but me knows my password," I smiled.

"Password please?" Mustard smiled as the service disc.

"Unauthorized access. Please say Master Recognition Code in 30 seconds or the alarms will go off," the service bot said, me smiling at her and saying the word to her.

"Mocha Malt of Mount Moon," I smiled.

"Master Recognition Code recognized. Alarms canceled," the service bot smiled.

"Okay, so is that the password for the console?" Mustard asked, me shaking my head no with a smile.

"You think I'm going to reuse the Master Recognition Code for my entire ship's controls? I have a password for anything on my ship of grave importance. I require a different password for the central control panel, the main engine, the boiler room temperature controls, and even to gain entry into the laboratory," I smiled.

"Wait, you have a lab on this ship?" Mustard gawked.

"Yes, but it won't be able to open up until we have a total of 40 Time Pieces," I said.

"Ah, okay. Hmm..." Mustard frowned as she looked at her watch and I looked at it too. It was roughly 11 pm on the planet of the birds according to it. "Time seemed to have passed quickly, huh? Let's go to the bird place in roughly 50 minutes. That should give us the opportunity to have a nice soft landing," Mustard smiled.

"Your wish will be granted," I smiled at her.


	7. Studio Blues

**Chapter 7**

Upon arrival to Dead Bird Studios at midnight, both myself and Mustard were creeped out at how the place had very little light at all. I needed to use my mask's night vision powers while holding onto Mustard in order to get us to the elevator in the Owl's suite, which was actually near the beginning of their side of the studio, which I was relieved at. I then pushed the button on the elevator to go down and the elevator opened up without issue. I then entered it with Mustard right behind me and I used my night vision to push the button that said basement. The door then closed and we were going down. And we went down for at least three minutes until we finally arrived at the basement, which was shocking that the place had this much depth in its infrastructure!

"Okay, proceed with caution, Ketchup. That loony penguin could be anywhere down here," Mustard warned.

"Agreed on the loony part," I smiled at that as we then saw the only way to progress was to use the thin wires of the electrical cords to cross a very large gap over a large basin of sharp scrap metal. "I have an idea. You, get on my back," I said to Mustard.

"You sure about this?" she asked with caution as she got on my back and she held her arms around my top hat, which made me smile.

"Trust me, I've hefted things ten times heavier than you without losing balance. Strength of a Hattian," I smiled as I then proceeded to run along the wires with precise jumps while avoiding the electrical current the whole way to the other side, where I then had to get to a higher vantage point. And when I did so by climbing up the pipes along the wall, I then saw my next hurdle. A bunch of distance between us and the area in front of us, which would lead to the supplies room.

"Okay, I'm gonna need to have that grappling hook badge I lent you earlier, Mustard," I smiled at her.

"Sure," she smiled as she picked it off her hood and I then placed it back on my hat. I then started to grapple the different light fixtures the whole way across the chasm until we were both on the other side and in the supplies room. And there were boxes stacked as high as you could see!

"Well, this is shocking. Didn't know that those birds had this much stuff!" I gawked at all the stuff until I saw something that made me understand. These things weren't for both of them. Red herring in one stack of boxes, special clocks in another, gaudy fashion designs in at least 14 dozen boxes, and even a box at the top that had a couple of words on it "For my trophies, when I finally get them... official, this is ALL Grooves's stuff! And the fact that he has a box for trophies means something that doesn't look good," I frowned as we then got into the next area to see that it was a security door with a special computer nearby it. I looked at the thing and smiled at how it was child's play compared to my computers on my ship.

"We may need to find the locking mechanisms that open this door," Mustard frowned as I approached the computer with a smile.

"Nah, just watch the master at work," I smiled as I began to type away at the computer's buttons furiously and quickly, not stopping until the amount of buttons I clicked finally overrided the system and the door opened up easy-peasy.

"Whoa... how'd you learn how to hack computers?!" Mustard gawked at me.

"Mustard, honey. Age difference between you and me. I'm at least 169 years old and, taking into account my age is half of that in your terms, I'm still well over 80 years old. I've had experiences from galaxies the world over and learned quite a few different crimes myself for being mischievous and for updating my ship. For instance, even if someone were to guess the secret password to the main central console, only I am the one who can actually operate it. If anyone else operated it, the thing would lock up just from the fact that only my hands are allowed to touch the console via DNA imprinting," I smiled.

"Well... I honestly keep on forgetting how old you are considering your looks... it's like, when I'm in my 20s, you'll still be the same height," Mustard smiled at me.

"I know, but that's how Hattians are. Their very existence is what keeps the Space-Time continuum in check. Every single time a Hattian is born, at least 1000 years are added to the timeline," I smiled.

"How do Hattians get born?" Mustard asked.

"That... is a good question... mother refused to tell me until I was 200 years old, which would mean I'd become an adult... wait... oh no..." I gulped as we found ourselves inside the studio's private housing. And guess what? DJ Grooves had a helper. "Paprika wuz here..." I read the text aloud from a large graffiti sign marked on the Conductor's side of the housing. And in one of DJ Grooves's rooms? All the stolen trophies that clearly belonged to the Conductor! I decided that enough was enough and took out my high-grade camera and started to take photos of the trophies and the graffiti on the wall. I also went further by adding memories into the camera of the hundreds of boxes that Grooves had in the luggage room.

"Oh my god... my sister told DJ Grooves about the Time Pieces! That's just gotta be the reason he was able to win the award!" Mustard gawked.

"This is bad... very bad. But with this special camera I have, we have him caught hook line and sinker. It contains enough evidence to book him for a very long time. All I have to do is push this button here and it will be instantly uploaded to every single news station and computer within a 40 light year radius! Every single person on these planets will know that DJ Grooves is a lying, cheating, corrupt penguin who makes terrible movies," I smiled widely.

"Then what are you waiting for? Press it!" Mustard smiled.

"Not yet. I think I need to wait until we actually see Grooves in person. The moment we start fighting him, I'm going to send it everywhere. And by the time we're done beating those tacky glasses off of his face, the cops should be all over Dead Bird Studios. It may even get the Conductor's attention," I smiled.

"Ah, good thinking! That guy is a genius at making convincing plots! He's sure to aid us in fighting DJ Grooves," Mustard smiled as we finally found a second elevator with a new feature on it. "Huh... Secret Floor? Let's go there," I smiled as I pushed it and the elevator started descending again. This time, it only took 30 seconds before we arrived in a hallway that led to a room that was basically one giant disco arena, complete with a giant disco ball, the multicolored floor, the strobe lights, and all the penguins and DJ Grooves partying like they didn't care.

"HEY, DJ DROOLS!" I exclaimed angrily, making the turntable player stop the music and for the DJ penguin to look at me in surprise.

"HUH?! Well, look what we have here!" DJ Grooves smiled. "Looks like you managed to find out my little secret, darlings. But I am not giving up my final Time Piece so easily. I suggest you stand there like good little girls and forget what you saw here, understand?" DJ Grooves smiled.

"Oh, don't you worry, Grooves. We have the upper hand. See this camera?" I smiled.

"Yeah? What about it?" he asked. I then did the deed and pushed the button, literally all the penguins checking their cell phones and gasping at the status updates that I'd posted with my own little article I added for good measure.

"B-BOSS! SHE JUST SPILLED THE BEANS WORLDWIDE!" the one penguin exclaimed, him looking at him with a frown.

"Come on, player, how could that possibly be the case? Hmm?..." Grooves asked as he then got on his phone and he answered it. "Yo, you got the Grooves! Who this be? I'm kinda busy here," DJ Grooves said into the phone, him then gasping at the words that came out of the phone. "W-WHAT?! What do ya mean my goose is cooked?! I dunno what you talkin' bout, sheriff!" Grooves said in shock. "Wait... all over social media?... ALL FIVE PLANETS KNOW ABOUT IT?! OH THAT FUCKING TEARS IT, BITCHES!" DJ Grooves exclaimed in anger as he then shattered his phone and we entered his arena.

"It's over, DJ Grooves. Your days of smuggling, thieving, con-artistry, and just being an overall lousy director are THROUGH!" I smiled at him.

"Wha?... LOUSY DIRECTOR?! You are really pushing my BUTTONS! If I go down, I'm taking both of you with me!" Grooves exclaimed as he then tried to come after me with his attacks by doing some wrestling slams into the ground, but I was well prepared. I used my own time manipulating bandanna and started to pound into his fat ass for at least 30 seconds of slowed time until I could hear him wheezing. "SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS!" DJ Grooves exclaimed, the guys doing so and me switching to night-vision mask mode in order to see where he was. But guess what? He was still right in front of me as he happened to fix up a small coffee table and three chairs on the fly!

"Come on and sit down. Let's have a little chat, ladies," he said with a pompous smirk.

"Hmph, as you will. No attacking," I frowned at him.

"Of course not. Not to my best actress and her best friend," he smiled, me going into the chair left of him while Mustard got in the chair across from him. "Listen, darlings, ever since you girls came here, them Time Pieces have kept on falling from the sky. Now, I know that they belong to you, but I need to tell you something. These babies have the power to rewind time. If I use this Time Piece, I can go back in time and get all the trophies that should've rightfully gone to me... that the stupid Conductor cheated his life so hard to get. I can't prove it now, ladies, but I know he's been rigging the awards just to tick me off. Just let me have this one little Time Piece and delete all that evidence and you can go home," DJ Grooves smiled, me frowning at him and telling him my point of view.

"Okay, DJ Grooves. You need to learn the hard truth. This is not the first time in my life that someone has messed with my Time Pieces. And do you want me to show you and all of your penguin friends how it worked out for the last guy that tried to rewind time to make it what he wanted?" I asked them, being completely serious in my words.

"Hmph, do tell, what is it?" Grooves asked. I then shared with him the deepest memories that I had never told a single soul since it happened. Not even my mother knew about it. But now, it would all be revealed.

* * *

_The day was the 6th of January in the Hattian calendar and I was age 101 at the time of the occurrence. I was tending to the stash of Time Pieces in my vault with a smile, having made a crew of roughly three different people at the time, each of them traveling with me after I'd visited and befriended them from each of their unique worlds._

_But the day would be one I'd never forget._

_As I was inspecting the Time Pieces, I noticed something strange. One of them was missing! I immediately sensed for it on my ship and I saw it was on my head chef's person. He was a very kind person I thought and he made me the best spaghetti my mouth had ever tasted to this very day. But today, he revealed his true colors._

_"Chef? Why do you have one of my Time Pieces? I told you those things are off limits to everyone but me," I frowned at him, the chef smiling and laughing at that._

_"You really want to know, kid? I saw your journal you keep in your room. It said these things can rewind time for anyone with just a simple smack! I'm going to use that power to become the greatest chef in the universe! I shall serve for the best planets' rulers, my culinary arts will be unbound!" the chef laughed as he then smacked the Time Piece against the table and I gasped audibly as he then rewound time for himself and he vanished from my ship. And just from him doing that one simple misdeed, the planets currently surrounding me had changed drastically. All four of them used to have greenery and vegetation. But now, only one of them still had vegetation. At the northernmost point of the planet. And a huge castle was placed at the very center of it all._

_"C-Captain?! What's going on with the world?! What's happening to the planets?!" asked my second mate, Bow Kid, him being in shock just as much as me. And as for my best friend... my friend from the start... **Cutlass Hand**... she was in shock at the devastation of the world before her._

_"NO! The worlds are losing all of their greenery! And all of their water! We need to go save them!" Cutlass Hand exclaimed as she then rushed for the secret escape hatch in the kitchen, Bow Kid rushing after her knowing the repercussions of what'd happen if they left the safety of the ship._

_"CUTLASS HAND! STOP! WE'LL BE ERA-" Bow Kid said before I heard the sound of him getting muffled. He was being crammed in it first! I gasped as I looked out of the ship towards the planet he'd just been sent to and I saw Cutlass Hand follow after. And the moment they were at least a mile away from my ship, it happened. I watched helplessly as their bodies aged to dust right before my very eyes!  
_

_"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO! ! ! ! ! !" I exclaimed in utter disbelief, shock, sadness, and despair. My entire crew... they were gone. The chef had to be taken down... but it wouldn't bring back Bow Kid or Cutlass Hand after they were turned to ashes in space. They'd be lost in the voids of time immemorial._

* * *

"Oh my god... Surely you must've saved them after defeating that traitorous chef, right?!" DJ Grooves asked in shock, me sighing and shaking my head.

"That's not how it works. See, if someone is within a mile of my ship and someone screws with the space-time continuum like the chef did, they'll be completely unaffected from the effects. Same can be said if they were over a mile away from the ship when it happened and I fixed the events that happened. They would have been completely unharmed... but anyone on my ship that was on it and then tries to get a mile away after that happens... their bodies age to dust, the particles being sent to various different timelines across the universe, never to be recovered... Cutlass Hand... Bow Kid..." I sniffed at the memories of them before I finally broke down into tears, me feeling something touch me and seeing that it happened to be DJ Grooves handing me a Time Piece.

"Here... if these things are truly this dangerous, I don't want nothing to do with them no-how," DJ Grooves said, me taking the Time Piece with a smile. "I only ask for one thing in return, darling. Get rid of the evidence. Once you do that, I'll start fresh," he said. And he happened to be bopping his head when he said that, a form of dancing. He only lied when he wasn't dancing.

"Fine, I'll do it," I said as I focused my powers into the camera and forced it to auto-delete the news from all over the world followed by another message that said. "Pranked ya!"

"Okay, now I suggest you try to have a bit more experience in trying to make movies, DJ Grooves. Speaking from my mouth, your movies aren't really that well paced or have much plot to them. Here, have this. It might help you get inspired," I smiled as I gave him something personal through my tears.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's my dream journal," I said. "It contains all of my vivid dreams I've had in my lifetime, which is over 44 years worth. I describe them with great detail. Maybe it can inspire you to make better movies. I'll be looking forward to catching them in the future, so don't let me down," I smiled at him.

"Thanks, darling," he smiled as he hugged me after that, me smiling at the softness of it as I saw the Conductor in the stands with a smile on his face. I smiled and put my fingers to my lips and he smiled and nodded at that.

"Okay, boss. What say we get going back to the ship? We should be able to get to the next place after a good rest," Mustard smiled at me, me smiling at the fact she called me boss.

"Okay..." I smiled as I used the power of the Time Piece and we were warped back to my ship, me intentionally warping both of us to the engine room so I could check out the gallery before we went off to the vault.

"What's up, Ketchup?" Mustard smiled.

"I think that I happened to see one of the Time Pieces fall in the gallery before... aha! There it is!" I smiled as I found the Time Piece right by the stand in the gallery of a special treasure I found on a different planet that viewed my ship as something totally different and mocking.

"Sweet! That's 21 under our belt now! Time for the next area, but only after we get some sleep," Mustard smiled.

"Agreed. Just need to lock up everything before we do so," I smiled as I proceeded to lock up all the different exits, entrances, vaults, and all electronics before I then opened the way to the bedroom and, after we saw that the Mafia Boss was currently sleeping, we went into my bedroom and I smiled at the place.

"Okay, you can sleep in the mountain of stuffed animals while I get the bed," I smiled.

"You just gave away the store, missy," Mustard smiled as she went up to the diving board and dove into the large pile of plushies, her giggling at it before she closed her eyes contentedly, me smiling at her as I then went to my bed and closed my eyes, clapping my hands for the lights to turn off as I then started to dream.


	8. The Stachio Family Reunion

**Chapter 8**

**Hat Kid POV:**

I didn't expect my dream to be a sad one, but it was. I saw Bow Kid and Cutlass Girl appear before me via their spirits for the first time in years.

"B-Bow... Cutlass..." I sobbed as I hugged their spirits, them smiling and petting my hair as I sobbed into their bodies.

"Captain... it's okay..." Cutlass smiled.

"No, it's not... you're lost to the sands of time forever... I couldn't save you... it's all my fault..." I cried to them.

"No, it wasn't your fault, captain. It was my fault. I should've listened to Bow... I screwed it up for both of us," Cutlass sighed.

"I just... I really miss both of you... I don't want another incident like yours to ever happen again..." I sniffed to them.

"Then you'll need to get those Time Pieces before that Paprika gets them first. And for the love of everything pleasant, ya gotta put in a better security system for your vault!" Bow frowned at me, which I sighed at and knew he was right.

"Fine, I'll make the Vault secured with a pass code feature the moment I wake up... I just hope that Paprika doesn't get wise as how to rewrite history... only my notes show how to do that," I said.

"We'll always be with you, Captain. Though our particles are spread far and wide, you still have one particle of each of us deep inside," Cutlass smiled, me sniffling once again.

"I love you... so much..." I smiled at them.

"We love you too. We couldn't have asked for a better captain," Bow smiled as I finally woke up to my radio.

"GOOOOOD MORNING! This is the Space Time broadcast for all you interstellar travelers!" the radio exclaimed, me smiling as it seemed to also wake up a very groggy Mustard.

"Ugh... that radio is way too loud..." she groaned as she picked off the gunk in her eyes.

"We have some news for the Green Cluster Galaxy. Apparently a unique flying ship has been spotted in the galaxy above the five planets in one of their Solar Systems. And the owner of this strange ship is none other than the mysterious traveler Hat Kid. Little is known about her, but we are told that she is incredibly strong, able to take down an entire Mafia on the planet of Islando. She has also starred in some movies from up and coming director DJ Grooves. Here are some choice words from the director himself," the radio said as we went to the main area and saw that the Mafia Boss was still in his wheelchair, but he looked to be smiling as we arrived and he then had some breakfast delivered to him in the form of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"The girl known as Hat Kid is surely a girl that has given me sight into how to make my movies better. I'm not going to beat around the bush, but I've done some things in the past I'm not proud of. Not sayin' what, but DJ Grooves was on the bad times for a long bit. But when I met the Hat Kid and she gave me this book of her dreams... I finally realized somethin', man. Bein' popular does not a good movie make. It takes detail, craftsmanship, imagination, and passion in makin' the movies into the art they are destined to be! In fact, the journal and the Hat Kid has inspired me to make a new feature film, made up of not only my penguin actors, but of regular people from Islando as well. It's a passion project that I'm entitling: "Journey Back Home". I promise you, I will put all of my efforts into making this movie my crowning masterpiece. And it will all be thanks to the Hat Kid and her kindness. If yer listenin', darlin', I wish you the best of luck in recovering your stuff and making it back home," DJ Grooves smiled, me nodding at that and smiling. He better make that movie the best thing ever or I'd be highly embarrassed.

"This robotic servant is very kind. Caters to every need, just like Mafia before," the Mafia Boss smiled.

"Just try not to overwork her. If she gets too many requests in too little time, she'll overheat and then I'd need to repair her. And that's not fun at all," I smiled at him.

"Don't worry, I won't do that. Robot too cute to harm," the Mafia boss smiled.

"Really? Cuter than me?" Mustard frowned.

"You're different. Mustached girl beat up Mafia force many times, so I no like you too much," the Mafia leader frowned, me smiling at him as I tried to hold back my angry friend from attacking.

"Easy, Mustard. Just tell him why you hurt the Mafia and I'm sure he'd understand," I frowned at her, Mustard breathing in and sighing after that.

"Okay... the reason I don't like an' tried to stop you Mafia goons is coz your men killed my parents and my other family members when you took over my island. Me and my sister Paprika are the only ones left in my family an' we made a vow to defeat the Mafia once and for all," Mustard frowned.

"What you mean Mafia kill your parents? Mafia make solemn vow to not kill anyone, just make them vanish. An' that don't mean killing. We send them to different place. Tell last name of family and I can tell you where they are," the Mafia leader said, Mustard frowning at him.

"Stachio," Mustard frowned.

"Let's see," the Mafia leader frowned as he pulled out a book from his pocket and flipped through to a certain page, him then giving the book to Mustard and me and her looking at it.

"Stachio family. Takeover Area: Ronda Island. Current Location, Duocorn Island... m-my family... they've been alive all this time?" Mustard gawked at that in shock.

"They are. The only thing they were told by Mafia to do is give monthly payments for protection. If no payment happens, Mafia cut connections and take them to different location out of Mafia reach, usually to different planet," the Mafia leader said, me smiling at her.

"Hey, Mustard?" I smiled, her eyes big and watery. "What do you say that, before we go back to work for looking for Time Pieces, we go try to find your parents? I'm sure that, if we can get your sister to know they're still alive and well, then she just might stop her mindset of erasing evil forever," I smiled at her, Mustard smiling at that.

"Of course. So, how do I get there?" Mustard asked.

"Come over to my vault," I smiled as I then opened it up and I picked up a Time Piece from inside. "For me to know the location of your parents specifically on the planet, I'm going to need to focus on a piece of DNA from your body. So can I have either a strand of hair or a drop of blood?" I asked, Mustard smiling and going for the former and giving me a pinch of her hair strands. I smiled and then put it into the Time Piece, me already getting a read on four different matches. One was Paprika, who was currently on the bird planet. And the other three were all together in a small house on an island to the south of the planet.

"Okay, you may feel a bit of tingling. I'll give you 30 minutes," I smiled at her, Mustard smiling at that. I then warped her to the island in question, me smiling as I decided to use her timeframe instead of my own. That meant I'd need to find some way to kill 15 minutes of time.

"Hey, big guy? Could you possibly tell me your name?" I asked him.

"**Sterling Gold**. Why?" he smiled.

"Just wanted to know the name of my opponent in a game of Go Fish," I smiled as I brought out a deck of playing cards and he smiled at that.

"Hehe, this should be fun," Sterling smiled as we started to get into the game. But not before I did something with the Service Disc.

"Service Disc, add secret password Omega to the Time Piece Vault, please?" I smiled at her.

"Master Recognition Password required," she said.

"Mocha Malt of Mount Moon," I smiled.

"Master recognized. Commencing integration of password to Time Piece Vault," the Service Disc said happily as she then tried to whir her way to the Vault and, after bumping into the wall a couple times, managed to get there before going to the systems of the vault itself.

* * *

**Mustard POV:**

When I was warped to my family's new place, I didn't know what I'd say. What could I say? I hadn't seen them for over 3 years after all! I sniffed in and sighed and then knocked on the door, letting down my hood as the door then had someone answer it.

"Who is it?" asked the voice that I'd really wanted to hear most.

"Mommy... I'm home..." I smiled, the door immediately springing open and my mother looking at me in shock while I looked at her with the biggest and saddest smile on my face.

"M-Mustard? What are you-" she was about to ask before I ran to her and hugged her tightly, tears streaming down my face as I did so.

"Mommy... I thought I'd lost ya..." I sniffed as I cried, my mom smiling and hugging me back and leading me inside.

"Honey! **Bryce**! Mustard's alive!" mommy exclaimed, my dad and my older brother immediately running to the front door and looking at me with smiles all on their faces.

"Mustard... we were so worried about you! We thought... we didn't think... we thought you were a goner!" my brother smiled at me. Bryce was a huge softy despite him looking a bit intimidating to strangers, so I smiled as I rushed to him and hugged him next.

"How did you find us? We thought you were dead when the Mafia burned the house down!" my daddy asked me with a smile and tears rolling down his face.

"Yeah, how did you? And where's Paprika?" mommy asked, me sighing and then explaining everything. How I thought they'd been dead since the attack, how I joined the Hat Kid in rescuing the Time Pieces, both of us stopping the Mafia in their home turf and hiding their leader on her ship, and how my sister Paprika was going to try to use the Time Pieces to eliminate all evil from the universe and the disaster that would occur if she succeeded.

"Whoa... I didn't know you and Paprika have had it just as rough as us... both of our groups thought the others were dead... and Paprika doesn't know or even care about the consequences of doing something like that... so what now?" mommy asked me.

"Right now, I'm going to need you to come with me. Hat Kid allowed me half an hour to visit you before she warped me back. I need all of you to hold onto me so she'll know to warp all of us back to her ship. But, I'm going to say this once. If Paprika does mess with the timeline, when we're back aboard the ship, do not try to leave it at all until Hat Kid fixes the timeline. Because if we leave while the world is changed, we'll end up like her original crew, our bodies turning to ash and being scattered throughout time and space," I explained to them.

"Well, you arrived roughly 29 minutes ago, so let's huddle around you, then," Bryce smiled as he and my parents gathered around me and held onto my arms and head as I then felt our bodies get warped back to the ship, me smiling at how we all reappeared on the ship and Hat Kid smiled at our group.

"Looks like you got your wish, Mustard," she smiled at me as she then looked at the Mafia Boss with a smile.

"Got any Aces?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he said as he gave her three Aces and she finished the game with her winning a game of Go Fish.

"Well, this is surely... odd.. I'd think someone with an age of 169 would be... I dunno, older looking?" my dad asked.

"That's what I said too! She's a Hattian from a far-off planet. And believe it or not, her yearly calendar runs twice as fast as our own, so she'll actually be 170 when it hits noon," I smiled at them.

"Well, then, I'd say it's time for some planning," mom said with her voice a hush as she and the others then went to the kitchen and I smiled.

"Hey, Ketchup?" I smiled at her. "I think we should get going to the next place. I looked through the window in your bedroom before going to bed and I saw a perfect candidate to hit up. It's a planet called Subcon and it's covered in darkness year round. If we were to leave to that planet, we should go to the Subcon Forest, which is the largest plot of land on the planet and the closest continent to the ship."

"Sounds like a perfect place for a spooktacular time! I love visiting scary places! It makes me feel like I've overcome a hurdle if I get through a dangerous and scary place," Hat Kid smiled at that.

"Be careful, kids. I've been to Subcon before and let me say, beware the Snatcher. Signing a deal with him is like signing your life away. I was barely able to defeat him in a fight and only then did he let me leave," the mafia boss said.

"Understood, Sterling. Beware the Snatcher," Hat Kid smiled, me looking at her in confusion. "That's his real name."

"Ah, okay," I smiled as we then went to the bedroom and I had to wonder, where would the secret escape hatch be in this room? And just as always, Hat Kid surprised me. It was hidden underneath her bed! "You always find new ways to surprise me when it comes to the design of your ship, Ketchup," I smiled at her.

"I'm sure both of us may be surprised at what may await us in Subcon. Now same as before, you first, me after, then I'll slow our descents. And don't forget you have an umbrella too, so both of us should use our umbrellas together to slow down the descent," Mustard smiled at me.

"Fair enough," I smirked as I went into the escape hatch first and I began to go to the planet of Subcon, also known as the most dangerous of all the planets in my Solar System. And soon, both me and Hat Kid would find out why.


	9. The Snatcher And His Past

**Chapter 9**

**Mustard POV:**

Upon arrival to Subcon, we immediately noticed that the clouds were so dark and so plentiful that the Subcon Forest was actually incredibly dark. In fact, it was so dark, the only thing that lit the place up were spooky lanterns, glowing mushrooms and flowers, and nearby fires that looked to be blocking us from going to any other parts of the forest, mainly the west of us being a swamp of purple goop and the west being a place that looked to be full of ruined houses.

"Okay, let's roll out... wait... what's that thing?" I asked as I pointed to the path ahead of us to a small creature. It looked like a small black alien that I'd never seen before.

"Follow me, little ones!" the creature said, me looking at Hat Kid with a frown.

"You think it's a trap? Set up by the Snatcher?" I asked her.

"It may be, but think about it. If I could take on the entire Mafia and beat up their boss, who actually defeated the Snatcher in battle, he'll be a piece of cake for me to fight," I smiled.

"Okay, let's just go and be wary of any traps," Mustard frowned, our group moving forward and through the place following after the creature. And as we were going down the trail, I stepped on a twig and we immediately got screwed. Out of nowhere, I felt something lift us up from underneath and both myself and Hat Kid were trapped in a large sack!

"ACK! We've been caught!" I exclaimed in shock as Hat Kid then tried to get out by struggling, which meant her feet kept kicking me. "Hey! Don't push!" I frowned at her.

"Then help me get out of this thing! My hats may give me powers, but I still can't get out of this that easily!" she said, me frowning and starting to struggle myself, me hearing a demonic chuckle happening nearby and my struggles becoming more frantic, which only led to both me and Hat Kid getting kicked in the face and body by each other. And then, suddenly, we gasped as the bag finally fell to the ground and we finally were able to escape... but only to meet someone we didn't expect to get us so easily.

"AAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLSSSS!" exclaimed a very loud and annoying voice as a giant shadowy creature appeared and we found ourselves in an arena of darkness! "You blew it! You totally screwed yourself! I can't believe you fell for my trap so easily!" the creature said, but I couldn't take him seriously with the goofy smile he had on his face.

"Are you the Snatcher?" Hat Kid asked, that making the monster smile at her.

"Ah, so you've heard of me before, kiddo? Then I guess that makes things easier, doesn't it?" the creature smiled as he then snapped his fingers and I soon found a contract in front of my face and Hat Kid got one too. "Sorry, but rules are rules, and you can't proceed further in my forest until you sign those contracts. Very simple ones, they are, Very," Snatcher smiled at us.

"Hold up. I understand doing this to Hat Kid as she's almost 170 years old, but I'm only 12. I can't legally sign contracts until I'm an adult," I frowned at him.

"Really? Well then, your friend here can sign for you. Hat Kid is your title, huh? Not a very creative one, though," Snatcher smiled.

"Well, I don't really have a name, I just gave myself the name Hat Kid because I'm a Hattian trying to go home. And I'll remain a kid until I turn 200 years old in Hattian years," Hat Kid smiled as she signed her name on the first contract and then signed my name on the second contract, the Snatcher stamping both of them immediately afterwards. "The deals are done! Now I'll just fulfill my end of the contracts you've signed," the Snatcher smiled as he then snapped his fingers and I gasped as I suddenly felt something leave my body and out of my mouth. And when I saw what it was, I gasped.

"So that's what he meant when it said sign your life away..." I gawked as I saw a spiritual version of me then enter the Snatcher and the same with Hat Kid... and when that happened, I felt very... well, empty inside. Not in the hungry kind of way, but in the way where I couldn't feel any kind of thumping in my heart.

"What? You didn't think that I'd let you sign and walk away, did you? I need to make sure you work on those contracts as fast as possible! Speaking of, I have three more here for you to accomplish. And from what your souls say, the payment you'd like to get are Time Pieces. Well, happy to say that a bunch of them fell into my forest lately. I have quite a bit and there are also some that have formed strange spherical universes," the Snatcher smiled as he presented me and Hat Kid with three more contracts, me smiling at the options available. The contract from before said that I had to clean out the well so the river could flow again. And these three contracts in front of me were different degrees of strange. One was delivering mail to Snatcher's minions, another was to visit someone called Queen Vanessa, and the final contract was to... oh god... defeat a sentient, soul-eating toilet!

"Alright... Uh... I think I'll handle the mail and the visit to this... Queen Vanessa. You can do the toilet job, make me proud, mate!" Hat Kid said to me as she then stole all three contracts and began to sign her name on the first two and me frowning at her.

"You do not play fair, Ketchup," I frowned at her.

"Ketchup? Ugh! Disgusting condiment! Why would you call her that?" Snatcher asked in shock at that.

"Well, it's kind of a nickname. Her name is mustard, so, since I don't legally have a name, she calls me Ketchup. Get it? Ketchup and Mustard?" Hat Kid smiled as she finished signing my name to the bad job and I groaned at her.

"Ah, now I get it. So long as you don't eat ketchup around me. Awful thing... just awful," Snatcher frowned as both me and Hat Girl then went to our different areas. Of course, I had to wait for passage to the swamp as Hat Kid's job had to be done first. She had to defeat some fire spirits that were creating the walls of flame that prevented us from going anywhere in the forest.

* * *

**Hat Kid POV:**

I went down the path a bit further and saw that the contract I'd been given first was to 'kill' some fire spirits that were making these fiery barriers around the forest. And when I got closer to them, I was surprised when the big bad Snatcher appeared out of nowhere!

"HEEEEY, Kiddo! How ya been? Fulfilling any contractual agreements lately? I sure hope so," Snatcher smiled, me smiling at him as I pointed to the fire spirits behind him and he saw them. "Ah, you see those fire spirits, right? Their dancing is making these barriers appear that makes it impossible for me to get around my forest. It's like their trying to put an end to-" he was about to finish before I went forward and ignored him with a smile, going to the fire spirits and them looking to be saying stuff I didn't expect.

"We want to burn! We wish to die! We wish to erupt in flames and then disappear in smoke! We need more fuel for the fire... only the finest paintings! Little one, will you please help us?" the fire spirit asked, me being a bit weirded out at how they wanted death, but I didn't bother pondering about that. I simply grabbed a nearby painting and threw it into the fire, this one being that of a strange melted landscape with melted clocks all over.

"Burrrrn! Buuuurrrrrnnn!" the fire spirits trilled at that as I then saw a purple mist escape from the fire that led to the different paintings. Two were atop some nearby tree stump structures and the final one was, get this, inside of a wall of pure ice.

"How can ice be in this forest?" I asked in surprise as I went for that one first and a small creature from before approached me.

"If you want to blow up the ice, just grab these nearby bomb fruits and get a bomb worm inside of them. They'll explode in about five seconds afterwards, so be sure to throw it away quick," the creature said, me frowning as I looked in his thoughts and I gasped audibly. He wasn't just a creature that worked for the Snatcher... his memories said he was once a small child and that this forest used to be a town filled with joy and laughter! But something happened after a certain incident.

"Um... thanks," I gulped as I went to the fruit, picked it up, and approached a nearby worm, it entering the fruit and the fruit glowing red as I then tossed it at the ice wall and, upon connecting, ice shards exploded all over from the blast, the painting being completely unharmed. And this painting was that of a painting I knew personally, The Scream.

I picked it up and carried it back to the fire and tossed it inside, the fire spirits trilling again and their dancing improving from before. I smiled and got to the other two paintings with ease, grabbing them and taking them to the fire afterwards, where the fire spirits then smiled and danced ferociously.

"THANK YOU!... BURN BURN BURN!" they all said happily as the fire then turned purple and erupted into the sky, the fire spirits being consumed by the flames and them getting their wish. And upon doing so, I saw the flame walls all around the forest vanish in an instant.

"Thanks, kiddo! Now that the flames are gone, the forest is back to normal and you can go to the other areas of the place! Oh, and about the Time Piece, here you are," the Snatcher smiled as he handed me a Time Piece and I placed it in my pocket with a smile.

"I hate to be a bother, Mister Snatcher, but do you know of the locations of the Time Rifts that were caused by the shattering of some of the Time Pieces?" I asked him.

"That I can help ya out with. There's one in the graveyard of ice to the furthest point north... then one in the old sewage mixer... and finally, there's one in the ruins of the village to the northeast," Snatcher explained.

"Thanks... but I have to ask... what was this place like before?" I asked him, the Snatcher's smile fading and turning into a frown at that.

"Why should I tell you that?" he asked.

"It was a nice place, wasn't it? Full of sunlight, bustling streets... and happy people. Right or wrong?" I asked, the Snatcher sighing at that.

"Yes, it was. But that was before... before I screwed it all up..." he frowned, me looking into his thoughts and gawking. I saw a memory play out in front of my very eyes. And the Snatcher was in the point of view, yet he wasn't a shadowy monster... he was a human! And he was talking to a very kind princess.

"Hello, Vanessa. How are you doing today, love?" he smiled at her.

"I'm doing very well, **Sanatch**," the princess giggled as she planted a kiss on the human Snatcher's cheek.

"I was actually going to go get some Valentine's Day gifts. Would you like some?" Sanatch asked with a smile.

"I'd love to be your Valentine," Sanatch smiled kindly as he then went to town... and then the next memory played out. He was talking to another girl in the streets and he had a flower in his hand.

"I'm just so upset that I can't get my husband anything for Valentine's Day... can you help out, Prince Sanatch?" she asked with a smile.

"Here, you can give him this flower. You said he likes roses, right?" Sanatch smiled.

"Yeah, he does. Thanks, my prince! You're a life saver!" the girl smiled as she hugged him and Sanatch then looked to the right and he gasped. It was Vanessa and she saw everything... but she obviously didn't hear it as she was full of tears and ran back to her mansion in anger.

Then when the next memory came in, Sanatch was trying to give a whole bouquet of flowers to her along with fancy chocolates. "I'm sorry, Vanessa, but I'm telling the truth. I was helping her out because she said her husband wanted a flower and she couldn't afford one," Sanatch tried to explain, but Vanessa started to talk very mean and raspy, completely unlike who she was before.

"YOU LIAR!... Guards! Strip this traitor of everything he has and throw him in the dungeon!" Vanessa exclaimed as she then bawled like crazy and then she started to go through a hideous transformation. Her body and hair turned from regular skin and brunette... to completely black and coated in shadows. Her body emanated a purple aura and her eyes glowed a bright yellow. "I shall never love again! If this is how love treats the innocent, I will never allow love to enter this mansion ever again!" Vanessa exclaimed as Sanatch was sent to her dungeon under her mansion and he was then hung against a wall and I watched as his body turned to ice and was then transported to a burial site to the far north...

I gasped audibly at the end of the memory trip and I looked at Snatcher in shock. He looked at me in utter confusion as I saw that, right in front of me was a Time Piece.

"What in the... how the... what the hell did I just see?..." I gawked as I picked up the Time Piece in bafflement.

"You... you went through my memories to get a Time Piece... then that means... it must've been from my burial site..." Snatcher said, me gasping at that.

"You... you were Prince Sanatch?" I asked in shock.

"Ugh... yes, that was me. I tried to apologize to Queen Vanessa, but all the inhabitants of this planet have something of a serious alter-ego problem. If someone gets angry enough, they could change the entire landscape of the land. And Queen Vanessa, the most powerful of everyone, had so much of an alter-ego in terms of anger that, when she stopped feeling love, turned the whole Subcon Forest into a place of nightmares. Now she doesn't open the door for anyone and she will try to kill anyone she sees that is a resident of Subcon Forest," Snatcher said, me sighing at that.

"You said she doesn't open the door to people who aren't residents, right?" I asked, him nodding at that... as best he could. His whole body moved when he moved his head after all. "Then I think I may be able to try something out with her. I think that will be the next contract I'll fulfill. Trying to befriend this Queen Vanessa... wish me luck, Sanatch," I said, him sighing at that.

"Please, just call me Snatcher? I don't feel comfortable with people using my original name anymore," he frowned.

"Fine. Maybe you could give me a couple more contracts for Mustard to do? Involving the Blue Time Rifts?" I smiled at him.

"Heh, I can do that, kiddo! Just sign on the dotted lines in her name. I want those rifts gone as much as you, since if any of the minions touch them, they get warped there," Snatcher said.

"Okay," I said as I signed the documents in Mustard's name and he then smiled at me.

"I'll see you later!... And do be careful with Vanessa, would you? She may say truly awful things and try to kill people, but that was all my fault," he frowned.

"I promise you that I will try to help her out. And if I fail to do that, well, at least I tried my hardest," I said with a small smile as I then took out that contract as Snatcher left and I proceeded to the directions of Vanessa's mansion.


	10. Queen Vanessa

**Chapter 10**

**Hat Kid POV:**

On the way to Queen Vanessa's mansion, I saw that the place actually was really well-fortified. The way there was filled with cold ice and snow and I needed to use some invisible platforms and more exploding fruits just to reach the mansion as it was blocked by numerous walls of ice! And when I finally got there, I could feel a strange sense of foreboding tension in the air. Almost as if just being near the manor were enough to fill my body with dread. I sighed in and exhaled a bit, knowing I had to be as kind as possible and not be rude. And I already had a secret present for her that I still had with me from yesterday. A Pop Tart. Sure, I could've eaten, but Hattians didn't really need food for up to a month. Then they'd get hungry.

"Okay... just be nice, yeah... treat her nicely..." I gulped as I approached the front door and knocked on it, wondering if she'd answer. But there was no response. I knocked again, just a little bit harder. "Um... Hello? Miss Vanessa? I'm here to visit?" I asked with a gulp afterwards as I could feel something nearby. Something sinister. It was on the other side of the door.

"Who daressss trespass upon my manor?" I heard Vanessa ask from the other side of the door, her voice sounding heavily distorted and having a hissing sound to her s words.

"Um... M-My name is Hat Kid. I wanted to know... would you like a Pop Tart?" I asked, trying to put up a smile as I held the pastry in hand and waited. Wondering what her response would be.

"A Pop Tart? What isss... a Pop Tart?..." she asked.

"It's a pastry filled with sweet flavors. This one I have is Birthday Cake flavor... I wanted to share it with you, please?" I smiled at her.

"Hmm..." the voice on the other side said as I saw a peephole open and two piercing red eyes emerged from the holes, me knowing that they were the eyes of Queen Vanessa. "The Pop Tart... isssn't poisssoned, is it?" she asked with a frown.

"No, it's not. Want me to prove it?" I asked her.

"Very well... you ssseem... trussstworthy..." Vanessa said as I heard many locks start to come undone from the door and I felt a bit of a breeze come from behind me. She then opened the door... and the person on the other side... let's just say I was legitimately shocked. She did not look like the monster I'd heard of from Snatcher. She looked... almost like her original form! "Please, come on in," she said, me nodding and entering the door and her then closing it and locking up the door's many locks before she smiled at me and I simply looked at her in confusion. She still had the piercing red eyes, but her appearance was that of what she looked like before... only a bit older in appearance.

"You should consider yourself a very special guest, Hat Kid. I haven't had anyone enter my dwelling for centuries. Now, would you like to come with me? I have tea brewing," she said, me still in shock at it and simply nodding at her as I held the Pop Tart and gave it to her, but not before I took a bite of it myself to prove that it wasn't poisonous. It wasn't a bite small enough to make her suspicious, but it wasn't too big either, so she wouldn't feel cheated.

"Thank you, little Hat Kid," she smiled as we then arrived in a Living Room of sorts and I gawked at what I saw. I saw... a person. He was frozen in place by the cupboard near the door.

"Um..." I gulped at it.

"Sorry... I just... anytime someone gets me angry... I can't control it. And the moment I touch anyone when I'm mad... they freeze solid, though still conscious..." Vanessa said, me looking at her and feeling genuinely sorry for her. But I knew that, if I wanted her to trust me, I'd have to choose my words very carefully. "So, what brings you to my mansion at such a dreary time, child?" she asked with a smile as she gave me a cup of tea and I smiled and sipped at it.

"Well, the short version is, someone asked if I could visit you and I said yes. But I want to tell you a bit about myself before I say who sent me, please?" I smiled at her.

"But of course, Hat Kid," she smiled at me.

"I'm a Hattian from the far off planet of Hattania. I'm trying to return home using my ship, but some turbulence occurred, sending my fuel source to the five planets near my ship, this being one of them," I explained.

"Oh, how dreadful! Are you finding them?" Vanessa asked with a surprised gasp.

"Yes, and I happen to have one right here," I smiled as I showed her the one I had from Snatcher's memories.

"Um, forgive me for asking, but isn't that just a small hourglass?" Vanessa asked in confusion.

"Don't let the small size and the look fool you, Vanessa. The fuel source for my spaceship is these intricately created Time Pieces, special artifacts that are a part of my being that control the span of time and space itself. It is extremely vital that I find all of my missing Time Pieces before anyone of bad intent were to use them for unpleasant means," I frowned, her sighing at that.

"I happen to have one in my attic. I found it outside the mansion yesterday," Vanessa smiled.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something... now, I beg of you, please don't get mad when I say this... can you promise me that?" I asked her.

"It depends on the question... some things are... personally enraging to me," Vanessa said with a sigh.

"Well... I happen to know you've had a little bit of a troubled past..." I said, Vanessa's fingers ticking at the table. Annoyance. I needed to choose my next words carefully. "But I wanted to say, I think I know of a way to help you get some clarity," I said, Vanessa's fingers stopping their tapping after that as she looked at me.

"Clarity? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I'm able to use the power of these Time Pieces to travel through time if I so choose. And I can even have other people do so with me. But just to be safe, we're going to be unable to be seen from the people of the past. Changing even one thing from the past could be enough to destroy entire planets," I said, Vanessa smiling at me.

"What place in time do you wish to travel to, Hat Kid?" she asked.

"You'll know when we get there," I said as I touched her hand gently and focused my powers on the Time Piece. And slowly but surely, the scenery around us changed as we became invisible to the world around us. We were third party witnesses to the event I wanted her to see the most.

"Huh?" she asked as she looked around and saw where we are. "I... I remember this place... it's where... it all turned bad," she frowned as I saw a bit of darkness envelop her.

"Easy, Vanessa. This is what I wanted to show you," I said as we then saw Sanatch appear in the flower shop and there was a small peasant girl that was just like his memories. Sanatch looked at her and picked her off the streets, as she was crying into her hands and she was very dirty.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but what's the matter?" he asked, Vanessa looking at the scene unfold in front of her.

"I-I'm just so distraught, Prince Sanatch..." the girl frowned as she then said the words as Snatcher's memories recalled. "I'm just... I'm so upset that I can't get my husband anything for Valentine's Day... can you help out, Prince Sanatch?" the girl asked, Vanessa gasping as she saw it play out. It was just as I wanted. She was realizing what happened was a mistake.

"Here, you can give him this flower... you said he likes roses, right?" Sanatch smiled as he gave the rose to the peasant girl and Vanessa started to cry a bit.

"Yeah, he does. Thank you, my prince! You're a real lifesaver!" the peasant girl smiled as she hugged him and then Prince Sanatch saw the Vanessa of the timeline under the bridge and she ran all the way back to her mansion. "Uh-oh..." Sanatch gulped at that.

"S-Sanatch?" the peasant girl asked.

"I'm sorry, **Mint**, but you'll need to get out of here. Get your husband and leave this place," Sanatch said, the girl gasping at that.

"W-Whatever for?!" Mint asked in shock.

"I fear that my princess has just witnessed you hugging me and me giving you that flower... I've felt it before... her power is unfathomable. I fear you won't be safe here if her alter-ego shows. Pack your things and leave. I'm doing this for your own safety," Sanatch said, Vanessa sniffling at this point as she fell to her knees.

"I'm sorry, Prince Sanatch... I'll go tell my husband and our children to evacuate immediately!" Mint said, Vanessa sniffling again as she finally was reduced to a crying mess. I figured that would be enough as I then focused the powers into my Time Piece and we were warped back to present times in an instant.

"M-My prince... I... I... I'M SORRY! UAAAHHHH! ! !" Vanessa cried out loud as I saw something start to happen to her. Her body was starting to change into something... but not the monster I saw from before. Her body was changing to something much different. It looked almost like... she were glowing! And when she finally screamed one more cry, I had to shield my eyes from the blinding light as I saw something nearby that I gasped at. The person nearby that was frozen in ice was now unfrozen and he gasped awake at that.

"P-Princess Vanessa!" the guy said as I grabbed him and hid us, knowing that this might be bad news... but then I looked outside... and I gawked at what I saw. The outside of the mansion was no longer dark or snowy. It now had clear skies and green grass all around.

"I am not a princess anymore..." she said as I then looked out from under the table and gawked at what I know saw. Vanessa now looked like... well, a goddess! Her face was shimmering with imminent beauty, her hair glowed golden as the sun, her dress was lavish and silver, and her aura surrounding her was pure yellow. She looked, in one word, stunning. "I am not anyone fit to rule... not after what I had done to this land in my blind rage," she said as I came from under the table and looked at her with big eyes of wonder.

"V-Vanessa..." I gawked at her. She then sent a small blast of her fingers through the floorboards above me and I gawked at how it was just a simply light... and it grabbed the Time Piece from the attic and brought it down to me. "Take this Time Piece, Hat Kid. I have some business to attend to in returning this land to normal," Vanessa said, me only then realizing something troubling.

"Uh... Vanessa?" I asked, her looking at me with a smile. "Remember when I said someone wanted me to visit you? Well... he was your prince... but he's no longer called Prince Sanatch. Now he's known as the Snatcher," I said, Vanessa looking at me with a sigh and nodding her head.

"His transformation was caused by my hatred sowing over this land, young one. I promise you that I shall return my Prince Sanatch back to his normal self once more," Vanessa smiled kindly. I then heard something from outside and I saw the face of the Snatcher himself. He looked at me and at Vanessa and then slinked off once again... but not before I felt something enter my body. I felt re-energized, revitalized, and I felt emotions enter my body again! I'd just gotten my soul back!

"Okay... well... I'm gonna go and find my friend now. If you need anything, Vanessa, just let me know and-" I was about to finish before she interjected.

"To be on your ship," she said, me gawking at that, but then smiling. "I feel no more hatred in my body anymore... all of it escaped when I realized the truth. I am now the opposite of my former, hate-filled self in every way... but I am unfit to rule this planet if I turned it to destruction out of a big misunderstanding. So I beg of you, let me and my Prince be a part of your ship's crew... please?" she smiled kindly, me smiling and nodding at her.

"I'd be more than happy to have you and Prince Sanatch join my ship," I smiled at her as I held out my hand and we shook hands. It was the most satisfying handshake I'd ever experienced in my entire life.


	11. Subcon Forest Reborn

**Chapter 11**

**Mustard POV:**

When I finished with getting the toilet taken care of (it wasn't even that bad of a stench, just the fact that it spat out junk at me) I then gasped as something happened from nearby. I saw something that made my eyes glow in amazement. I don't know what it was, but a huge explosion of light happened from the valley in the northeast! It was so bright, I had to close my eyes and cover them with my hands to prevent from being blinded by the spectacle! And when it finally ended, I looked around and I gasped. The place... wasn't dark anymore! The clouds had parted from the sky and the sun shined down on the landscape to show the green grass and the glowing flowers added to the flair! I then looked at the Snatcher's followers that watched me fight the toilet and I saw that... well, they were turned into humanoid creatures!

"Oh my god... O-Our queen is freed! Freed from her curse!" one of them exclaimed, me seeing that almost every single one of them were children. Needless to say, my emotion at that point was just one single emotion.

"Whoa..." I gawked.

"Huh? Who are you? I don't think we've seen you around before," one of the little girls asked me.

"Um... do you remember anything that just happened? I literally just defeated a giant soul-eating toilet?" I frowned at them, the kids looking at me in confusion.

"Huh? I don't remember that... and soul-eating toilet? You sure are weird, miss," one of the boys said, me smirking at the tykes. They must not have been aware of anything that had happened to them lately.

I then looked at my contracts and saw that I still had to go through the two rifts that had appeared, me deciding that now would be a good time. I just had to wonder what the rest of the place looked like if the area around me was looking beautiful. And when I went through the previously creepy woods, I saw they were no longer evil or depressed-looking. Rather, the trees were full of life, there were small animals hopping around, and there were some more children around that were having fun as well as a few adults. "What in the heck did she do?... To make this place do a complete 180?" I asked, utterly dumbfounded at what I was seeing.

I eventually saw Ketchup appear from an area to the east with a very kind looking woman with her... that literally glowed a golden hue! "Hey, Mustard! How're you doing?" Hat Kid smiled at me as I simply walked up to her in shock.

"Hat Kid... what did you do to make this place look completely opposite as what we saw when we first got here?" I asked her with a gulp.

"She helped me out... my hatred and anger turned this land into a horrid atrocity... my name is Vanessa," the glowing woman smiled kindly.

"Wait... so you're that Queen Vanessa that was mentioned in the contract that Hat Kid signed?" I asked her in surprise, that making Vanessa's eyebrows get raised.

"Contract? What do you mean?" Vanessa asked. We simply showed the contracts in question created by the Snatcher and explained what was happening.

"See, we needed to find the Time Pieces that fell into Subcon Forest. But the Snatcher caught us in one of his traps and we had to sign these contracts in order to obtain the Time Pieces that he had collected. One of them was to go and visit you, one was to clean out the well, and one of them was to deliver mail to his 'minions'... which, now I can see are all these children running around... they seem to have no memories of anything that happened either," Hat Kid frowned.

"Right on the money with that one, Ketchup," I frowned at her. "I fought a soul-eating toilet, no thanks to you, and when that explosion of light happened, the creatures that watched me fight it returned to being normal kids and they had no memories of anything while they were in that previous state. They didn't even know I took out the soul-eating toilet, which was a real bummer," I frowned.

"Ahem... Pardon?" Vanessa asked, me looking at her with a smile. "I feel I must ask, but we cannot leave the Subcon Forest until we have found and returned my beloved Prince back to normal. The Snatcher, as you call him, is my Prince turned into what he is because of my transformed state... but it appears that his spirit is more powerful than mine in its current state, as it is unaffected by the sunlight. I can feel it... he's nearby," Vanessa frowned.

"Then we'll need to find him... hmm..." Hat Kid frowned as she took out a Time Piece and concentrated, me wondering what she was doing before she gasped audibly. "Aha! The Snatcher is in a small garden-like village to the north! That's also where a Time Rift is! Mustard, you and Vanessa go there and confront Snatcher. The only reason I know he's in that area is because that's where I sensed your soul is being kept," Hat Kid said, Vanessa sighing at that.

"Soul manipulation... oh, my poor Prince... I am deeply sorry to have turned you into what you are now," Vanessa said with a sigh.

"Let's get goin', Vanessa!" I smirked, leading the girl by the hands to the area in question, seeing that the creepy statues in the place were gone. Why were the statues creepy? I was looking at one from far away and then it started to move on its own! And now they were all gone, the only things remaining in the small garden being the Time Rift on the roof of a tower and me seeing a strange darkness over the place still.

"Sanatch... Prince Sanatch... where are you?" Vanessa asked as we entered the garden and I saw something appear from the Rift. It was a duo of Time Pieces! I couldn't believe my luck! I tried to go up and get them, but then I gasped as something happened just as I saw someone appear from the west of the garden. Hat Kid.

"Hold it, Mustard, hon," I heard the voice of the Snatcher say, him literally appearing in the center of the garden and demolishing the central pagoda in the middle! "Listen, I know we've had our differences, but I don't want you to have those last two Time Pieces just yet," the Snatcher said, me wondering what in the world he meant by that. "At least, not until you and your Ketchup friend can earn them. What do you say, Vanessa, darling? A test of strength. You can do battle with Mustard, and I'll fight the Hat Kid," Snatcher said, Vanessa smiling at him with a twitch in her eye.

"Oh, Sanatch. Why not just give the kids the Time Pieces and be done with it? They've already done so much for us," Vanessa smiled kindly.

"Vanessa..." Snatcher said, his smile looking a bit out of place. "I still have a contract with this little girl in the mustache. She was supposed to go into the Time Spheres and take the two Time Pieces within. But she only got one. I have the other one in hand," Snatcher said, me gasping at that.

"Oh, okay, so that's how we're going to play this, then?" I smiled as Hat Kid entered the arena with the Snatcher and I looked at Vanessa. "Vanessa, I know you don't want to, but this is probably our only shot at returning your Prince to normal. And if I can beat you in a fight, I'd say I accomplished something great," I smiled at her.

"Very well. Fine. You and I shall do battle, but the rule is this. No killing, just unconsciousness," Vanessa smiled at me.

"Deal," I smiled at her.

"Hold it! You'll need to sign first... oh, wait, I'll make it easier for you," Snatcher said as he produced a contract out of thin air and then, out of nowhere, he stamped it. And I then knew I was golden. I knew exactly how contracts worked. If someone stamped it before the person could sign it, the one who signed it could put down anything added or removed they desired!

"Oh, Ketchup! I do believe that I'm still too young to sign a contract, can you be a sweetie and come over here?" I smiled, Hat Kid coming up to me and me whispering the stuff in her ear. "This is the ticket we got to getting my soul back and those Time Pieces. He stamped it so we can edit it however we please," I smiled at her in quietness, the Snatcher confused at what was going on.

"Uh... hello? What are you doing?" the Snatcher asked. Hat Kid then started to do her little editing spree. In the top where it said 'Defeat Vanessa', she crossed out Defeat and wrote 'Befriend' on it. Where it stated the secondary listing, where it said 'Defeat Snatcher', Hat Kid wrote down 'Be BFFs with Snatcher'. Then where it said the reward would be us getting out of the Forest, she scribbled all of it out and wrote in its place 'Give back everything, including souls'. And where it said that the penalty would be death, she crossed it out and wrote that the penalty would be '1 Hour of Snatcher Chicken Dancing'. And only then did she sign it in my name, the Snatcher looking at the contract afterwards in pure shock.

"Uh... you do know that's not how contracts work, right?... Right?" he asked, me smiling at him.

"Actually, Prince Sanatch, that is EXACTLY how contracts work! You stamped it before we signed, therefore, we legally have the right to edit it however we see fit," I smiled proudly at him, Snatcher looking at us with a smile at that.

"Hehe, impressive, for a 12 year old with a mustache. Gotta hand it to ya, girls. You're quite the characters... and tough negotiators. Here, a contract is a contract after all," Snatcher said as he then gave us back the Time Pieces he had and I gasped as I felt something enter my body... and I suddenly felt alive! Like I could scream at the top of the tallest mountains! "There... now I'm all out of contracts... now I want nothing more than to leave this place... with you, my love," Snatcher smiled as, out of nowhere, his body started to shine, almost like he were undergoing some sort of transformation. And when the shimmering finally subsided, I looked at him and I saw that he looked like Vanessa did, only he looked... well... he looked handsome as hell! But I knew not to butt into love life, especially since these two were WAY older than I was!

"My beloved Vanessa..." Sanatch smiled with tears in his eyes.

"My perfect Prince Sanatch..." Vanessa cried as they then hovered over to each other and began to twirl each other around in glee and happiness. It honestly made a tear come to my eyes upon seeing it.

"Come on, guys. It's time we get back to my ship. Because, in only... 2 minutes, it will be my birthday!" Hat Kid smiled widely.

"Really? And how old will you be, hon?" Vanessa smiled, Hat Kid smirking at him.

"170 years old," Hat Kid smirked smugly, the queen looking at her with a smile.

"Is she being truthful?" Vanessa laughed.

"She's truthful. Though, she's actually technically 95 for all of our timelines. Her planet's rotation is twice as fast as us, so she goes through a year in half the time," I smiled.

"Correct, now let's go back to my ship," Hat Kid smiled as she activated her powers and our quartet zoomed back to her ship, right in the bedroom. And it was then that we saw that someone else had taken residence. "Huh? The Badge Seller? What are you doing on my ship?" Hat Kid asked him.

"I have come with a grave warning, young Hattian. I have foreseen the future and I can say that, in the course of the next 24 hours in Hattian times, an intruder will appear on this ship that will threaten the very space-time continuum itself. I suggest that you up security around your vault and stay here until the hours are up," Badge Seller said, me already knowing what that meant.

"Paprika..." I sighed.

"We can't let that get us down, but we do need some kind of security around the vault until the 24 hours are up... um, hate to be a bother, but could you and Sanatch do that, Vanessa?" Hat Kid asked politely.

"We'd be more than happy to help guard the vault of Time Pieces. We owe you our entire existence after all," Vanessa smiled as Sanatch smiled and nodded with a polite bow.

"You just go and have yourself a happy birthday. We'll keep the vault safe, I promise," Sanatch smiled kindly.

"Thanks," Hat Kid smiled as we then went to the main living area of the ship and, out of nowhere, we were gobsmacked by what we'd be walking into.


	12. Birthday Blues

**Chapter 12**

**Hat Kid POV:**

Upon entering the central area of the ship, I was gobsmacked as was Mustard. Balloons, streamers, and party favors were all over the place! Three different tables lined with very delicious foods! And I even saw that they'd gotten a couple extra faces from the bird planet to join in and they were waiting outside to be let in. "Hey, darlin'! Heard you were having the big 170 party. Mind lettin' me and the Conductor on the ship, please?" DJ Grooves smiled.

"Sure," I smirked as I warped them to the ship and they looked enticed by the food on the table.

"Okay, we'll get to work on guarding the safe from intrusion," Sanatch smiled as he and Vanessa went there after getting a plate each of the foods on the table.

"I think I too will partake in the merriment. But first order of business, I would like to give you one free badge for the special occasion, Hat Kid," the Badge Seller smiled at me, me smirking as he gave me a badge that was really worth it. It was a badge that would allow me to shoot a laser beam out of my umbrella or my hands for a regular attack!

"Thanks, Badge Seller," I smiled at him... but just as I was about to hug him, I felt something happen. I felt a couple Time Pieces enter the vault! And I could sense the Stachio DNA inside of it! I was shocked. Paprika was able to use the Time Pieces to warp straight to the vault!

"Oh no you don't!" I exclaimed as I stopped time with my bandanna hat and manually put in the password for the vault, it opening in a snap and me rushing in to grab hold of Paprika just before she could smash a Time Piece in her grasp!

"Let me go right now, you bloody wanker!" Paprika exclaimed as she tried to grab hold of my Time Pieces, but I did something she didn't expect. I warped them all to the mail room of the ship, Paprika gasping and struggling out of my grasp and into the main area of the ship, where she found herself surrounded by everyone, including her parents. "Wha?! Mom, Dad? Bryce?! What are you doin' joining up with this no-good selfish bitch?!" she exclaimed, me now knowing something was seriously wrong. I could see a dark aura escape from her head. She was corrupted by the Time Pieces!

"Paprika, if you change the timeline in any way, you'll destroy our entire planet!" Mustard's mom said with a frown.

"SHUT UP! You have no idea how good I'm gonna make the world! I will destroy all the bad guys in existence! I will-" she was about to finish before DJ Grooves whacked her in the back of the head with a frying pan, knocking her out cold in the process.

"What the hell did you do to her?!" the father yelled at DJ Grooves angrily.

"Settle down, mister. Paprika isn't in her right frame of mind right now," I frowned at him.

"For your information, my name is **Saul**. Now what do you mean that my daughter isn't in the right frame of mind?!" he asked in a pissed off manner.

"She was using the same powers that I use whenever I have the Time Pieces... the only issue is that only I am able to use the Time Pieces with no negative effects as I am their master. She used their powers too much, so her mind has been slightly corrupted into a darker form of who she was," I frowned.

"Just... Just like how I was, huh?" Vanessa asked with a sigh.

"Sort of... but not quite. The only way for me to return her to her normal self is if I do battle with her and make her stop relying on the powers of the Time Pieces," I said.

"That still doesn't give this birdbrain any right to smash her head with a frying pan!" Saul angrily yelled at Grooves before his wife held him back.

"Easy, Saul... she would've hurt all of us if she didn't get knocked out. You know how Paprika can be violent when angry, right?" the mother asked with a sigh.

"Yeah... tss... you're right... Sorry, **Rosemary**," Saul said to his wife.

"So what do we do now?" Sanatch asked.

"Here's the deal. I warped the Time Pieces to the mail room for temporary, so from now on, that room is off limits. And I'm going to need some kind of special, secluded area to fight Paprika in so she doesn't warp the Time Pieces to her," I frowned.

"That we can help out with, kiddo," Sanatch smiled.

"He's right. We can have you enter a different plane of existence to battle Paprika in, made up of our energies," Vanessa explained.

"Okay. When I've finished fighting with Paprika, then we'll need to keep her under surveillance," I said with a stern gaze.

"Understood," Everyone said in their own way.

"Okay, you may feel a slight tingling sensation," Vanessa said as I felt her powers envelop me and I then saw the area around me change drastically.


	13. Soothing Paprika

**Chapter 13**

**Hat Kid POV:  
**

Upon entering the arena that Sanatch and Vanessa warped me and Paprika to, I realized that the place was filled with bright colors and that our arena was circular and a bit spacious. And Paprika was still unconscious, so I laid her on the ground and waited for her to wake up. After a few minutes, she finally did so and looked surprised by the change of surroundings.

"Whuh?! W-Where in the hell am I?!" she asked in shock before she locked eyes with me and she frowned angrily. "You..." she growled at me.

"Yeah, what about me?" I asked her honestly.

"You are the most selfish bitch in the universe! You had all that power with those Time Pieces and you choose not to fight evil! All you care about is yourself and helping out criminals!" Paprika growled angrily.

"Oh, really? Like how you helped out DJ Grooves, who cheated to win an award and planned to rewind time to get more?" I frowned at her, Paprika stammering a bit and her looking a bit troubled.

"I-I..." she stuttered as I spoke some more.

"Oh, and how about Prince Sanatch and Queen Vanessa? Not only did I help them out, I transformed the entire planet of Subcon back to normal without needing to rewind time! I helped them out while they were in transformed and demonic states, yet you decide to just rewind time and erase everything you think is bad," I frowned at her.

"I-Shut up! You have no-" she was about to finish before I explained even further.

"And remember the Mafia Boss? His name is Sterling Gold and he made Mafia Town for a reason. So he could make your planet have water on it. You turning on all of those faucets in the town? All that did was turn the volcano back on, which managed to bring water to the world the moment it got sealed. So not only would you have killed a whole mess of people if your plan succeeded, you would've been the complete opposite of who you claim to be," I frowned at her, Paprika growling as I saw tears form in her eyes.

"S-SHUT UP! I will not be called a bad guy by someone as sleazy and selfish as you! Tell me, if you had those Time Pieces for so bloody long, why wouldn't you go back and change anything in the timeline?!" she asked me angrily. I simply frowned and showed her something that I'd never shown a single person.

"I have," I frowned as I showed her the one time I tried to change the timeline... and the massive consequences it had.

* * *

_It was my 79th birthday and I was just finishing the touches on my ship. It was also at this time that I finally learned the secrets of the Time Pieces that were inside of my body and I converted the ship to run on their power. And once the vault was filled, I then put in the coordinates back home, wondering how long it'd take... and when the data came back, I was stunned at how it would take roughly 120 years to get back. "This can't be right!" I exclaimed as I tried to think of some way to make the trip take less time... but then I looked at the Time Pieces and did the unthinkable. I started to rewind time. And when I did so, I did something I would immediately undo the moment I realized the severity of it. I rewound time to when I was an infant and being kidnapped by the pirate._

_I knocked him out and gave my baby self back to my parents... but when I did that, the changes to the planet happened right in front of me when I went back to normal times. The planet had become a hellhole for everyone and I was ruling them all with an iron fist, even to the point that I'd locked up my own parents!_

_I immediately rectified my problem by battling and defeating the alternate me, which was easier said than done. And when she finally was defeated, I grabbed the Time Pieces and rewound time again, this time, undoing everything I did that screwed the timeline. And when I woke up again on my ship, I knew that these Time Pieces would be destructive to everyone if used by the wrong people. I made a vow from that day forward that I would never again rewind time to suit my own needs._

* * *

When I finished showing her the memories, Paprika gasped and looked taken aback by what she saw.

"J-Just changing one thing from your past... made you an evil dictator in the future?" she asked in absolute shock.

"Yes. But there is one other thing that I am still completely confused about concerning both you and Mustard in particular," I frowned, Paprika looking at me in confusion as I saw the influence leave her body and enter my own.

"What is it?" she asked in shock as she fell to the ground on her hands and knees, completely drained from the power leaving her body.

"You were able to use the powers of the Time Pieces despite never knowing about them before... and your sister, Mustard, was able to see the Memory Pons of those struck by Time Pieces in purple Time Rifts, something that only a Hattian can do... I want to know... was your biological father or mother a Hattian? Or was it the same people back on my ship?" I asked, Paprika sighing and laying down on her side at that.

"My mother... she said that, when me and Mustard were conceived, that she had a strange dream where she saw a mysterious man appear and touch her on the stomach... and he was said to be made of constellations... Bryce is the only member of the family to have been born the natural way," Paprika said with a sigh.

"I see..." I frowned, noting that she was now no longer a threat, especially since she gave me back all the powers she had and I then looked in the air and smiled. "Okay, Sanatch and Vanessa. I'm victorious, you can warp us back now," I said, me then feeling my body leave the place as well as Paprika, me holding her in my grasp and her smiling and hugging me... and her grip was actually so tight, that I could barely breathe when she grabbed my neck!

"HACK!" I coughed as I forced her hand off my neck and I breathed in deeply at that, me now knowing the full truth.

"Is something wrong, Hat Kid?" Saul asked when I breathed in and out after that.

"Guys, I need to explain something here... there's a reason that Paprika was able to use the powers of a Hattian so effortlessly. And it also explains why Mustard is able to see the Memory Pons of anyone caught in a purple time rift," I said, them looking at me in confusion.

"What's the reason?" Bryce asked.

"I think that you, Rosemary, may have been chosen by one of the guardian Hattians to have Mustard and Paprika be Hattians... but obviously, not full blooded," I said, Mustard gawking at that.

"What do you mean, Ketchup?" Mustard asked.

"I'm saying that you and Paprika are half Hattian. It's the only explanation I can think of," I frowned.

"H-How is that possi... wait... does that explain why I got pregnant with you girls? Because I never even was married when I had Paprika and she's the eldest," Rosemary gawked.

"Then that proves it... but I'm going to need to have a talk with my mom in dream time the next I fall asleep to confirm this... keep Paprika on a constant check-in basis. She was corrupted by the powers of my Time Pieces, which is why she was so angry at all of you. She's probably going to be asleep for well over 20 hours of your time," I frowned.

"Um... but what about the party?" DJ Grooves asked.

"Yeah, we busted our beaks tryin' to get up here for the party! We're not leavin' until we've got a proper shindig, ya here, lassie?" the Conductor said, me smiling at that.

"Fine, we'll commence the rest of the party starting... now!" I smiled widely.


	14. The Guardian of Time

**Chapter 14**

**Mustard POV:**

It was kind of awkward having the rest of the party go on without Paprika getting to enjoy any of it, but I decided that I would help Hat Kid put the Time Pieces back in the vault when it was time for cleaning up. And after a good three or so hours of partying, we had our fill of food and party games and Hat Kid then warped Grooves and the Conductor back to their studio. It was then that Hat Kid used her powers to warp all the Time Pieces back into her vault and she then put in the secret code and locked it up tight after making sure every Time Piece was in there, including the ones that Paprika had on her.

"I still have to wonder where Paprika got those Time Pieces from... she had a total of 3 on her, but I don't know where she got them from. Not helping is the fact that she's conked out for a bit," Hat Kid sighed.

"I don't know either... but you said she's back to normal, right?" I asked her with seriousness.

"I know she was relieved of her powers, but she still might be hostile when she wakes up. So for now, just tie her up with some of this," Hat Kid said as she gave me a bit of some strange cording that I was confused about... and even touching it made me feel drained, same with Hat Kid.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Rgh... It's the only weakness to a Hattian... taffy," she groaned, me being absolutely confused at that, since taffy was considered a delicacy on my planet... but considering the fact that I was feeling quite drained just by holding onto it, I'd assumed she was being truthful. I simply gave it to my mom and dad knowing they wouldn't be affected.

"Ugh... can you do it, guys?... She's not kidding... touching this taffy stuff made my body feel funny..." I frowned as I then fell down and started to have a snooze of my own, which I didn't expect I'd get from a substance like taffy.

* * *

And when I fell asleep, I saw a sight that I would never forget. I was in some strange area of darkness, my body floating in the air and me seeing a ton of stars in the area but none close enough to burn my eyes. "Mustard..." I heard a voice say. And it creeped me out with how deep it sounded.

"W-Who's there?! Show yerself!" I said, trying to be intimidating, but my body was shaking all over. And lo and behold, something appeared before me that made me gobsmacked. It was just as Hat Kid described it to look like from what Paprika said. It was a large being made up entirely of star-like lights and it was unlike anything I'd ever seen... almost like a large teddy bear wearing a top hat, but with the tail of a dragon and the head of an tonooki. "W-Who are you?" I asked in shock.

"I am the guardian of time... I am the one who defines the boundaries of time and space and decides on the creatures that live therein," the apparition said, me gawking at that.

"A-Are you my... father?" I asked.

"One could say I am the father of all living creatures in the universe... but if you are referring to your mother's conceiving of you and your sister... the answer is yes," the... thing said, me gawking at that.

"W-Why are you only talkin' to me now, then? Why wait until all this chaos started to happen to tell me the truth?!" I asked him with a frown.

"It is because of the recent course of events with Paprika... how she was corrupted by the Nameless Hattian's Time Pieces... and how she was unable to quell her anger without outside assistance," the guardian said, me wondering what his deal was. "I decided to make you and your sister to be the very first Hattian half-breeds with other creatures, and it seems that some things haven't gone as well as I'd hoped... so, I have decided that, to prevent you from being corrupted by the Time Pieces on the ship... I want to know if you'd be willing to become fully Hattian," the deity said.

And when he said that, I gasped audibly and internally at that... the ability to become fully Hattian? To be able to live the same timeline as Hat Kid?... But then again, I'd probably never see my family again, I'd outlive them by hundreds of years, and I'd be leaving my home to go to Hattania... I really didn't want to give an answer, so I simply said what I thought in my head. "I... don't know..." I said with a sigh.

"I understand... it is a very important decision to make, after all... I shall allow you some time to think about the choice, same with Paprika... shall we say, when you finally recollect every one of Hat Kid's time Pieces?" the guardian asked, me smiling at that. It would be enough time to think and to consult with my family.

"That sounds fine. We'l decide when the Time Pieces are all collected," I said with a small smile and a tear in my eye.

"Very well... it's nearing the time to wake up soon... be careful on your adventures, young Mustard," the guardian said, me feeling myself leave my dream and my eyes opening wide as I saw that Hat Kid was trying to pinch my cheek to wake me up.

* * *

**Hat Kid POV:**

"Hey! Wake up!" I said to Mustard, her finally opening her eyes and grabbing my hand and removing it from her cheek.

"You couldn't have thought of a better way to wake me up, huh?" Mustard groaned as she sniffed in a booger.

"Sorry, I couldn't think of a better way," Hat Kid smiled at me. I then looked over at Paprika and saw she was up too and that she looked to be barely able to move from the taffy around her wrists.

"What... the hell... taffy?... Why does it... make me feel... all numb?" Paprika groaned as she tried to move, but failed miserably from the weakness working its magic.

"Sorry, Paprika, it was just a precaution just in case you still had any leftover animosity," I smiled as I came up and took off the taffy by cutting it with a pair of scissors, the mustached half-Hattian falling forward in a slump after that.

"Ugh... no need to be worried... I'm calm now..." Paprika sighed with a groan.

"Paprika..." Bryce smiled as he went to his sister and hugged her, Paprika smiling as Mustard and the other family members went and hugged her as well.

"I'm sorry everyone... I... I don't know what came over me..." Paprika groaned as she tried to move her arm and found it moved like a wet noodle.

"It's because you were trying to use my Time Pieces, but because you were part Hattian, they must have responded to your brain and tried to become part of you as well. But Time Pieces only have a single master, so it did nothing but corrupt your mind," I explained to her, Paprika then gasping at something.

"I-I remember something now!... I... I had a dream..." Paprika said.

"Really? So did I!" Mustard said with a smile.

"Yeah, it was this large guy made of stars..." Paprika started.

"...That said he was the guardian of time..." Mustard continued, me gawking at that as they then finished their sentences together.

"And... he said... we would have to choose... whether or not... to be... Hattians..." Paprika and Mustard gulped while looking at each other.

"You mean that same thing that spoke to me in those two dreams?... That was the guardian of time?" Rosemary asked in confusion.

"Yeah... now it all makes sense..." I frowned, remembering what my mother said to me in my dream. "See, the Guardian of Time is the father of every Hattian in existence while also being the creator of everything in the universe that ever was. He refuses to change the timelines at all as he gave that duty to the Hattians... but it seems that, this time, he decided to do something different... and tried making you two girls into the first Hattian half-breeds," I frowned.

"But, if we're half Hattian, does that mean we actually have some of your powers?" Mustard asked in confusion.

"Well, obviously you've had them long before I met you two. Paprika with her superhuman strength and speed, which is natural for Hattians like myself. And as for you, Mustard, you've got endurance, cunning, and mischief. All five of those traits combined makes up a Hattian's greatest powers," I smiled.

"Um... how is mischief a good power?" Sterling asked.

"Come on, haven't you always wanted to have a bit of fun in your downtime? Maybe at younger ages? Because Hattians always love having fun, even at others' expense. Case in point, Mustard going after the Mafia. She was dead-set on doing so, but she still had the time to make fun of you guys numerous times," I smiled.

"Yeah... I guess you've got a point there, Hat Kid," Mustard smiled at me.

"So what do we do now?..." Saul asked.

"Well, the Guardian of Time said that, since I wasn't ready to decide if I wanted to be a Hattian or not, he'd hold off the decision until we'd recovered all of Hat Kid's Time Pieces. But now comes the question for Paprika. Where did you happen to find those three Time Pieces you had on ya?" Mustard asked.

"I found them on that mountainous planet. I think they called it Peakoni. And I found them in an area called Alpine Skyline, which are the highest mountains on the planet. I found all three of them inside of Time Rifts," Paprika explained.

"Peakoni, eh? That used to be a popular tourist spot for a good few years, but that all changed after they passed a law there saying that, if a party was coming to climb their mountains, they could only bring a party of 3. Mostly because the mountains were getting littered and that happened to leave a spread of infectious flowers," Rosemary smiled.

"Well, looks like we know where to go next... Paprika, would you like to come with us?" I smiled at the girl, her gulping at me.

"Y-You sure you want me to?... What if I lose control again?" she asked in worry.

"So long as you do not use the power of the Time Pieces, you'll be fine. Touching a Time Piece is no detriment to anyone. It's when they try to use their powers when they get hurt. If you happen to find a Time Piece, simply hold onto it and I will warp you back to a safe spot," I explained.

"Okay, I think I can handle that... okay, let's go," Paprika said as she, Mustard, and I first stopped to meet with the Badge Seller for one reason only.

"You may need some hookshot upgrades in those mountains. I can see that Mustard has one as do you, Hat Kid, but Paprika does not. You can have this one I have for free. You'll need it," the Badge Seller said as he handed the badge to Paprika and she smiled.

"Thanks... mister," she said, obviously a bit concerned at how he looked. She then put it on her shirt and I then got an item from nearby she could use for the hook extension. It was a wooden cane that was inside of my basement, right against the elevator leading to the laundry room.

"Here, this should be a good grappling item. Just focus the power if you see something you can grapple onto and hold on tight. Should be simple, right?" I smiled at her.

"Yeah, but kinda scary, considering how high we're going to be in those mountains," Mustard gulped.

"You're going to be okay. Now time for us to get to the area of interest," I smiled as I had all three of us grapple across a hook above us and into the area ahead, me looking through my telescope out the window to see the area I wanted to. It was a planet filled with giant mountains and the biggest was luckily in the target zone of the escape hatch. And where was it? I had it hidden underneath the generator, me pushing the 'emergency' button to reveal it, which the duo didn't expect.

"Well, that's one way of making an escape hatch hidden," Paprika smiled.

"You girls better get ready, because this ride might get a bit bumpy," I smiled at them as the duo went down first and then I went in after, all of us hurdling through the atmosphere of the planet and me smiling as I held onto both of them and then me and Mustard let down our umbrellas. And where did we end up falling to? A bit short of the mark, just to the south, on what looked to be the starting point of a mountain path.


	15. Thin Air in Alpine Skyline

**Chapter 15**

**Hat Kid POV:**

"Okay, we're a bit off course right now, Hat Kid. We'll need to find some way to get to Alpine Skyline from here," Paprika frowned as I looked above us into the top of the area and I saw that there was a large flow of ribbons that went further into the clouds above us.

"I think I just found it... by my calculations, if we were to use our grapplers on that line of streamers, it should get us all the way to Alpine Skyline," I said with a smile.

"We'd better get going then... hoo... hard to breathe up here..." Mustard groaned with a puff of air.

"The air in this place is incredibly thin... but for some odd reason, I'm unaffected by it. What about you, Hat Kid?" Paprika asked me.

"I'm not bothered by thin air either... you must not have the sturdy lungs of a true Hattian, Mustard," I frowned at her, Mustard smiling at me.

"Still, I can breathe okay, just can't breathe enough for shouting and stuff," Mustard said with a sigh. We then moved forward a bit and onto a bridge, where we saw a bell and a sign near it. "Ring the bell for clearance. Only teams of three allowed," Mustard read it aloud.

"Well, we're a team of three. Couldn't be simpler," Paprika smirked as she reached for the bell and rung it, the gate opening and us going forward. We then walked up a long stretch of stairs, needing to grapple on a few hooks along the way until we reached the area with the streamers. All of us then used our hookshots on the streamers and I gasped as, out of nowhere, we were being carried forward with great force!

"WHOA! THIS IS CRAZY!" I exclaimed as we started to pass through the thick clouds.

"C-Can't... breathe!..." Mustard coughed as I saw she was in the middle of our group and she found it difficult to breathe.

"DON'T WIMP OUT, MUSTARD! IF YOU LET GO, YOU'LL FALL FOREVER!" Paprika yelled, Mustard trying to breathe in and out as I looked up and I saw we had passed through into an area that made me mesmerized. We were hundreds of miles above the ground by now and we were being carried to a giant set of mountains in the distance as I saw that Mustard was about ready to peter out.

"Gugh... if... I don't make it... no... s-stay awake..." Mustard groaned as she tried to hold strong and breathed in and out as best she could. By the time we finally got to the end of the streamers and onto what looked like a completely colonized mountain peak, she passed out the moment she touched the safety of flat ground on the mountain.

"Oof... she might need to go back to the ship... but I don't have any Time Pieces on me currently, so I can't exactly warp her back right this minute," I frowned at Mustard with a sigh.

"We may need to think of some way to get her looked after while we go to the different Time Pieces here," Paprika said... and it was then we were approached by someone. It looked like a strange humanoid creature with a completely black face, white eyes, and having a hood on her person.

"Did you say Time Pieces? They wouldn't happen to be strange hourglasses, would they?" the female creature asked.

"Yeah, that's what we're looking for," I smiled.

"I saw five of them fall from the sky and the four I know of fell to four different areas-hugh... the Lava Cake... the Twilight Bell... the Old Windmill... and the Birdhouse...hugh... I wish they weren't so bright. They're blinding-hugh," the creature said, me smiling at how she let out a small puff of air at the end of some sentences.

"Thanks, but can we ask you a favor?" I smiled at her.

"What do you need?" the creature asked.

"Could you look after my sister, please? She's not used to air this thin and she passed out on the ride up here from those streamers. If she would've passed out during the ride, she'd have been doomed. And we can't get her back to safety until we get at least one of those hourglasses. Could you please look after her? Make sure she's breathing regularly?" Paprika smiled at the girl, who nodded happily at that.

"I can take care of her. She looks like she could use some butterbell pie," the girl smiled as she and Paprika picked up Mustard and carried her into the house right in front of us, Mustard sighing a bit as she looked like she was tossing a bit in her sleep.

"She'll be safe here, that's a promise. Now about those Time Pieces, as you call them-hugh... the ways leading to them are currently closed off. You'll need to blow into the ram horns all around the Skyline in order to summon the streamers once more. There should be a horn up by the east side of this mountain-hugh... Just be mindful of the goats. They can be a bit pushy if you get in their way, but they're still nice," the girl said.

"And what's your name, miss?" I smiled at her.

"Hegh, my name is **Botzgka**. Nice to meet you-hugh," the girl smiled.

"That's a pretty unique name," I smiled.

"On this planet, all of us Mountaineers are given original names based on the first noise we make as an infant that isn't crying," Botzgka smiled.

"Pretty cool. Now I think we should get to those Time Pieces. I can handle the windmill, and you can handle one of the other areas in the meantime, Hat Kid," Paprika smiled at me.

"Then I call dibs on the Lava Cake. Just the name sounds cool!" I smiled. I then started to make my way up the cliff face until I reached the big bullhorn, Paprika joining me soon after.

"Would you like to do the honors, Hat Kid?" Paprika asked.

"With pleasure," I smirked as I put my mouth on the horn and belted out a large and powerful breath, the horn making a deep bellowing boom when I did so that echoed throughout the mountains. And when it happened, a ton of streamers leading to different areas around the mountain range started to appear that led to the different areas of the place.

"Wow, didn't think a girl as small as you could have so much air in her lungs," Paprika smirked at me.

"It's a gift," I smiled back.

* * *

**Mustard POV:**

I didn't know how long I was conked out for, but I eventually came-to in what looked like a very cozy shack and that there was a small alien that looked like it was watching over me.

"Ah, good, you woke up... hugh... I was worried you would've been asleep for much longer," the creature said, her having a female voice.

"Yeah... heh... it was a very fast ride to get here... and I couldn't breathe at all... even now, it's tough," I said as I had to breathe in and out slowly and deeply.

"Your friends asked me to watch over you after you passed out in the village... hugh... I'm Botzgka, nice to meet you... hugh..." she said with a smile, though I did notice how she let out a breath every time she finished a sentence. "What's yours?"

"My name... Mustard... nice to meet you..." I said as I managed to move my body off of the bed and I was able to walk on my own two feet.

"I highly recommend that you stay here for now, miss Mustard... hugh... the skyline is full of streamers like the one you used to get here... hugh... I'd hate for you to fall down from riding them at those speeds," Botzgka said with a warning, me smirking at her.

"I know, I'm not going to do that... I just want to see this place..." I smiled.

"Oh, okay. Come with me, hugh..." Botzgka smirked as she led me out of the door and I saw the beauty of the area around me. It was filled with bright skies, the mountains were beautiful, and there were clouds all over the place. "Make sure you don't breathe in a cloud on accident... hugh... they're filled with water, so you'd choke."

"Got it. No breathing in with clouds... so where'd my friends go?" I asked.

"The one with the hat went to the Lava Cake... hugh... while your mustached companion went to the old windmill... hugh... they're going to find those hourglasses," Botzgka smirked.

"I see... I think I'm just gonna sit here and wait for them... to get me back on Ketchup's ship," I smiled.

"I shall accompany you... we can talk more, if you want?" Botzgka smirked.

"I'd like that," I smiled at the mountain dweller, both of us then sitting on the ground looking over the mountains and speaking a bit to each other as I had to wonder how my sister and Hat Kid were doing.


End file.
